Dog Days: Retaliation
by Zoids Fanatic
Summary: Ten years after season two, Shinku is trying to live a regular life as a twenty-four year old. However, on a rather average day, he meets up with an older Eclair and Gaul who drag him into something called "Operation Retaliation", something that will reshape the past, future, and present. But their actions will be hindered by rebellion and governments, as well are their own morals.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Dog Days, the Xm8, the M4, the M16, FN SCAR-L and H, MP7, MP9, HK 416 and 417, the F-22 Raptor, the F-35... you know what, simply put it, I don't own a lot in the story except for any OCs.**_  
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**Warning: Included in this story is death, violence, mentions of rape and sex, time travel, cursing, drinking, guns, changing of canon, older characters, OCs, smoking, suggestive scenes, and mentions of illegal actives. If you do not agree or feel comfortable with any of the above listed, do not read further. If you have questions or are unsure of some things, please message me. Thank you. Enjoy.  
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**Chapter 1**

**Old Friends, New World**

_"Brothers and sisters, I ask you a simple question. Why? Why do we suffer? Why do we fight? I will answer your question, my brothers and sisters. It is your leaders who are the cause. They do not care about you, they only care for themselves. They think you are all pawns in some sort of game. Does that not bother you? Does your worthlessness to them not bother you? Why then do you take it? Why must you bear their yokes? Their greed? Their hate? Take note, my brothers and sisters. You are stronger than they are. You are smarter."_

_"Do not bear their yokes of oppression any longer! Do no toil in the fields for them, dig in the mountains, or fish in the seas for them. You must open your eyes, my brothers and sisters as that time has come. The time for you to break your yokes, to raise your swords, your farming gear, anything you can. Fight back! Take back the land, the seas, and the air from them! Rise up and fight!"_

_"Blood will be spilled, yes. But it is the blood of freedom. The blood of those who oppress you. Let that blood run! Throw down your false leaders and lead yourselves. You are your own rules! You are your own government, each and every one of you. Raise your swords! Raise your scythes; raise your sickles and nets! Fight back for what is yours! Fight back for what you deserve! Rise up and fight my brothers and sisters! Rise up and let the blood spill. Rise up! Rise up! Rise up and fight your oppressors!"_

* * *

"BREEE BREEE BREEE!" yelled a thin alarm clock standing on a dressed next to a lamp and a half-full glass of water. Next to the dresser, a mass of sheets and pillows began to stir and a hand poked out of the dull grey sheets. It reached out and clicked a small button on the button of the alarm clock, shutting off the alarm for the day. The hand then retreated back into the mass of sheets, followed by a low groaning sound. A man's face muzzled out of the sheets and stared at the clock.

"9:20, huh?" he asked himself, blinking his dull blue eyes at the glass monitor. "Today's my day off. But since I'm up I'd better do something productive with my day." The man sighed, rolling out of bed dressed in only a pair of briefs. Once out of bed, the man stretched out his rather muscular body and scratched his chin. He needed to shave, he thought as he made his way to the bathroom of his apartment. This man was named Shinku Izumi and, believe it or not, ten years ago he saved another world twice. The land of Flonyard, a world unlike anything Earth had seen, had called him twice to protect their lands, and both times he responded. He saved the land, won the people, and won the hearts of a few ladies of Flonyard. But, that was behind him now.

"It's that day again." He sighed as he felt the hot water over the shower run over his bare body. On this day, exactly ten years ago, he received a letter from Flonyard asking him if he would accept princess Millhiore F. Biscotti as well are some of her follower into his home. He accepted, bought some hats as to hide their ears (the people of Flonyard had the ears and tails of animals), and headed to a back alleyway in order to meet them. Along the way, he received some strange words of wisdom from, simply put it, a giant hobo. However, no one came. He waited hours for them to arrive, and still they never came. They didn't even come to pick up poor Tatsumaki, a dog with magic powers that usually summoned Shinku to the land of Flonyard.

So, with a heavy heart on the matter, Shinku adopted Tatsumaki and moved on with his life. He finished school, finished college, and was now working part-time at a convenience store in order to save up some extra funds. He realized rather late in life that his goal to become a star athlete was more or less far-fetched. Instead, he settled on obtaining a more realistic job in the booming real-estate market. Still, he carried on with training and working out, as he didn't want his body to go to waste at all.

Finishing his shower, Shinku stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his lower body. Looking in the mirror, he had to admit he had changed. Gone were his bright blue eyes and blonde hair, replaced by dull blue eyes and a mass of brown hair. Physically, though, he looked much the same as the adult he was able to transform into. Which wasn't surprising, given he was now twenty-four.

"Magic." He smiled, as he began to lather on shaving cream. Despite the year now being 2022, you still had to shave with either an electric or manual razor, which Shinku chose an electric. Even though it was the "future", much was still the same. Cars still ran on oil, though more hybrids existed. TV's were still in existence, as well as DVD's and Blu-Ray. As were computers and laptops, though gone now were the bulky computer towers. Cellphones were flatter and smaller, as they were like this even back in 2012, and clothes still looked the same. The only thing that really changed was militaries and their vast arsenal of weapons. But, Shinku could really care less about that. For him, things were normal and he was set for life. But, he was missing one thing. A girl.

Clearing off the razor with water pouring out of the faucet, Shinku's mind wandered onto the ideals of women. Aside from the one mistake kiss he had with Éclair (which was caused by a wild deity, mind you), he never was close with another women. He and Becky were still close friends, but romance wise a love never blossomed between the two. And it was too late now, anyways. Becky was now engaged to another man. A nice young man Shinku had met before in the past. The man was smart, attractive, and very kind. A perfect match for Becky. But of course, Shinku did give the man one tip of advice. If he broke Becky in any shape or form, Shinku would break his neck.

Finishing up with his daily "cleaning", Shinku headed back to his room to get dressed, throwing on a pair of jeans and a red t-shirt. Dressed, though arguably not in the most fashionable of ways, he made his way to the small living room/kitchen. Greeting him from the couch, as usual, was Tatsumaki. The dog lifted his head up to look at the young man strolling into the room.

"Morning, Tatsumaki." Shinku waved at the dog. The dog nodded in response, watching as his master waltzed into the kitchen to make himself a quick breakfast. "Hey, Tatsumaki. Did I pick up any soy milk last night?" Shinku asked as he opened the main door to his refrigerator. Tatsumaki only shook his head in response. "Well damn. Oh well. What do I have to eat." He muttered, scanning for a quick meal. Nothing was to be found, and Shinku sighed. Rice with tea for breakfast, again. Despite living in Japan for so long, he could not help but miss the food of Britain. He was, of course, half-Japanese half-British. Heading over to his electric rice cooker, he quickly poured in a cup of washed rice as well as water. Watching the two ingredients mix, he turned on the cooker. He then went to go prepare the tea, all along being watched by Tatsumaki.

* * *

"In other news, the United States and Israel have launched the eighth manned-mission to Mars. According the NASA, this launch is the most vital in the Colonize Mars Missions or C.M.M. for short, for it contains the equipment to allow the colony to have fresh air and water." A newswoman spoke on the TV. Having been long done with breakfast, Shinku decided to join Tatsumaki on the couch and watch whatever was on. Being ten A.M., the only thing on was the news. He yawned as the camera zoomed away from the woman and to a group of four persons, each one discussing their views of the topic.

"We need to understand that this is a waste of our time and money." A man sitting at the middle of the table spoke. "Even if it is for science, we shouldn't invest in it."

"Yes, I understand your point." A woman spoke to the man, her name appearing underneath her. "But you must agree that with the success of the colonization of the moon, colonization of mars was the next logical step."

"And I agree." The man replied swiftly. "But we should invest more, if anything, in the colonization of the moon. Full operations have only been going on for a year now, and I do not think that warrants a green light to go to mars."

"I think you are all missing the point." A man with thick-rimmed glasses spoke. "The point is Japan is far behind in the space race and we should be worried. What if America completely takes over space?" he adjusted his glasses as he spoke. "What if they are building space-weapons? We know they were trying to use satellite weapons during the Second Korean War."

"But I do not think that is an issue." The fourth person spoke, a woman. "If America is wanting to do this alone, why are they always having other countries joining them. Even you yourself cannot deny that Professor Wakahisa was fundamental in providing the life support systems." Shinku yawned and switched the channel. Politics bored him. Changing channels, he passed a variety of shows and commercials. A cooking show, a children's anime, another talk show, two news stations, and a documentary about the Second Korean War. The Second Korean War, known as KWII, was a rather quick war that occurred in the December of 2016, in which North Korea attacked South Korea and was in turn attacked by South Korea, America, and Japan. The war itself ended in less then a month, as China, Iran, and Russia, three countries believed to rush to N. Korea's aid did nothing. They only watched as the countries ancient military was crushed. And this war was fought by the air and the internet.

The day war was declared two U.S. aircraft carriers arrived in the Sea of Japan, launching the new F/A-35 Lightning II jets to the fray as well as older F/A-18E Super Hornets. Supplementing the navy was American F-22 Raptors, backed up by the first batch of Mitsubishi ATD-X fighters. The flights were simply, and devastating for N. Korea. Groups of F/A-35's would wipe out radar and SAM sites, allowing the more detectable Super Hornets the ability to strike deep into the heart of the country, which was already weakened due to an all-out cyber-attack. And woe would fall on any Korean fighter that dared to stand up against the attack, as they would be jumped by the Raptors and the ATD-X. In one of the most memorable engagements of the short war, a F-22 Raptor and a ATD-X single handedly fought against a force of four MiG-29B's and eight MiG-23ML's that somehow managed to take off. Within ten minutes, the entire Korean force was a pile of smoking metal on the ground and each pilot was an ace, the Raptor shooting down two 29's and five 23's while the ATD-X took claim for the other two 29's and the remaining three 23's.

With the air war quickly destroying the military infrastructure, the South Korean army made their assault into North Korea. The North Korean army, their skies filled with enemy planes while the southern army approached, quickly surrendered. The war was won in less than a month, the Americans and limited Japanese forces being able to return to their families in time for Christmas. The total loss of life was minimal in the Korean peninsula. South Korea lost one hundred men while North Korea lost one thousand, most of which were due to the air attacks. The confusion of the cyber-attacks had created a void of moral. America and Japan did not lose a single life in the short war, America losing the most out of the two countries as three of their drones had been shot down, one of which took down a Mil Mi-24 Hind with it.

The only real impact that Shinku felt about the war was the fear of nuclear weapons. But that fear quickly faded like the moral of the North Korean troops. But regardless, Korea was one country now and the world was back to normal, almost.

"Hey, Tatsumaki, I'm going to go out to the store. Want anything?" Shinku asked the dog as he picked up the TV remote and switched it off. Tatsumaki nodded in reply. "Cheese-flavored dog treats it is." He smiled as he patted the dog's head and got up from the couch. "I'll be back in an hour or so. Don't destroy the house while I'm gone." He said with a laugh as he headed to the door.

* * *

"This is the place." A man wearing a brown trench coat with matching brown hat asked a woman wearing the same beside him. She nodded in response, pulling the sucker out from her lips.

"Izumi Shinku." She said, twirling the sucker in her hand as she adjusted her sunglasses as said man walked out of the front door of the apartment complex. As of current, he had no need for a car or even a motorcycle. Everything was in walking distance. "And that's him."

"You sure?" the man asked, also adjusting his sunglasses while retrieving a small, crumpled up picture from his coat pocket. "Looks nothing like him."

"People age." The woman replied.

"Any idea on how we are going to get him?"

"I'll follow, you get the van."

"Kidnap?" the man raised a grey eyebrow.

"More or less." The woman smiled, tossing the sucker to the ground and crushing it under foot.

* * *

With a MP3 player blaring music in his ears, Shinku had not much of a care in the world. It was his own world he was in. Tapping his foot as he hummed along with the music, he patiently waited for the crosswalk sign to change. As he waited, a chill of sorts crossed his body. A feeling as if he was being watched, or more correctly, followed. He only shrugged and began to move forward with the crowed. Yet, the feeling still followed him. Something felt up. Lowering the volume of his music, he looked over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of a figure in a trench coat with a sucker in their mouth. Just the appearance of such a person felt wrong. Not wrong, but sinister. Shinku began to walk faster, looking over his shoulder to see the strange person increasing their own pace. He was being followed!

_"Dammit."_ He thought as he increased his pace again. He knew this route like the back of his hands, and knew of a quite narrow alleyway up ahead he could hide in. If he truly was being followed, he would know. Breaking into a run, Shinku passed, and pushed, by a few bystanders before ducking into the rather tight alley, which was between a fabric store and a sushi bar. Pressing himself tightly against the wall, he watched as the figure darted to the area he had vanished in, coming to a stop and looking around with confusion, though now missing the sucker. Shinku smiled. _"Got you." _He thought as he slowly reached out of the alley, and grabbed the person by the shoulder, pulling them into the alley and slamming the person into the wall, knocking off the hat. Firmly holding both shoulders, Shinku glared at the person.

"Alright why are you following me?" he asked as something caught his eye. The person before him had green hair and… dog ears. Shinku was taken aback by this. Only one person he knew had green hair and ears. But feeling the cold metal of a gun barrel made him stop thinking.

"Be quiet." The person ordered, holding an HK MP5K submachine gun and pressing it against Shinku's stomach. "I do not want to hurt you, but understand that I will take drastic measures if necessary." The person talked with a woman's voice. Now it was clear who this was.

"Éclair?" Shinku asked, watching as something began moving behind the trench coat. "Is that you?" the person hushed Shinku and slammed a hand against his face.

"Yeah, it's me. Now shut up. We're being followed and I can't afford you talking aloud." Éclair pressed herself against Shinku and pushed him against a wall. Well, she had grown. Éclair Martinozzi, friend, rival-of-sorts, and a former possible flame. Shinku thought he would never see her again, but here she was. Holding a submachine gun to Shinku.

"What's going on?" Shinku asked, his voice muffled by Éclair's hand.

"I'll explain once he gets here." Éclair looked out of the alleyway, he body losing tension as a white van drove up. "Thank the Gods." She sighed, pulling her trench coat and sunglasses off. She was dressed in a black t-shirt with no sleeves and black cargo pants. The clothing fit her new figure quite well. Lightly muscular with a medium-sized bust. Her hair was now down to her shoulders, unlike before, and her ears were still droopy. Shinku would have stared at her if it wasn't for the fact she had a foliage green FN P90 strapped across her chest and two hostels attached to her legs, one empty and the other holding another MP5K. She quickly slid the 5k she held into the empty hostile and grabbed Shinku's hand, darting out of the alleyway and to the van. Opening the back door of the van, she tossed Shinku in before diving in herself, slamming the door as the van began to speed off.

"Ow." Shinku rubbed his head from the impact with a wooden box. Looking up, he saw a man with grey hair with cat ears behind the wheel of this van.

"Well, if it isn't Mr. Hero himself." The man upfront spoke.

"Gaul?" Shinku asked, rubbing his head.

"The one and only." Gaul Galette Des Rois replied with a grin. Like Éclair, he was dressed in black cargo pants with a black sleeveless shirt. In his lap was a FN P90, black in color unlike Éclair's foliage green P90.

"Can you explain what is going on?" Shinku asked, turning his head between Éclair and Gaul. Just like Shinku, Gaul looked like the older self he was able to transform into when he was younger.

"Can't now, we're being followed." Gaul said, gazing his eyes at the side mirrors. Behind the van was a black sedan, which was quickly approaching the van.

"Um, Gaul. Since when could you drive and when did Éclair get guns and a bigger rack?" Shinku asked, being lightly punched in the shoulder by Éclair for his remark.

"As we both said, we'll explain later." she replied as she grinded her teeth and twitched her eyebrow. "Now Gaul, can we lose him? I kinda don't want to make a scene."

"I'll try. Hold on." Gaul said as he spun the steering wheel around, causing the van to make a sharp turn and surprising a few bystanders at a local café. The sedan followed suit, the left window rolling down and a man in suit wearing sunglasses popping out of the window, armed with a black, modified Intratec TEC-9 pistol. Without even aiming down the iron sights, the man fired two five-round bursts into the van, the 9x19mm bullets piercing the van and bouncing around the inside. Shinku held his body down while he shielded his head with his hands.

"Hey Gaul, their shooting." Éclair shouted at Gaul, kneeling on one leg and keeping her head down.

"No shit!" Gaul shouted, maneuvering around a slower driver.

"Hey, Shinku, open that box." Éclair pointed to a long, woodened box that was beside Shinku, the object which he bumped his head against when he was thrown into the van.

"Um, sure." Shinku kept his body low as he slid the cover of the box off. His complexion faded out of his body. In the box was a long, green, cylinder-like device. Shinku had played enough video games to know what this was. It was an AT4, or simply put it, a rocket launcher.

"Uh… what is this?" Shinku asked with wide eyes.

"An 84mm unguided single-shot smoothbore weapon. AT4-CS. What about it?" Éclair glared at Shinku.

"Well, wouldn't firing it…" but he was but off as a stray round hit the side of the van. "Here." Shinku picked up the launcher and tossed it to Éclair. With one swift action she swung the launcher over her shoulder. Looking down the sights, she removed the safety pin located in the back of the launcher followed up by removing the two safeties in the firing rod cocking lever and the top right side of the launcher. She then pressed a red safety lever which was in front of the cocking rod and aimed down the iron sights.

"Alright Gaul, I'm about to go loud." She shouted at Gaul.

"Right. I'll try to not bump us around." Gaul shouted back as Éclair turned to Shinku.

"This is the CS version of the AT4, so get ready to be splashed with salt water. It will be loud, cover your ears when I say so. Now, get on my left side." Shinku did as was told, maneuvering to the side of Éclair as more 9mm rounds struck the van. "When I say go, open the door. Ok?"

"Right." Shinku nodded. Like old times, but this time with actual lethal weapons.

"One, two, three. Go!" she shouted. Shinku swung open the door of the van and Éclair aimed at the sedan and pressed another red button on the AT4. Instantly, the launcher fired a HEAT shell. As the projectile exited the launcher with a loud blast, the back of the launcher released a blast of salt water in order to muffle a back blast. The van rumbled and shook, and for a moment everyone's ears rang because of the blast. Not a moment more the sedan flipped forward in a fireball as the HEAT projectile tore the sedan to shreds and exploded. "Whoo! Got the bastard!" Éclair cheered as she tossed the spend tube out the van.

"Ow, my ears." Was all Shinku could manage to say, feeling damp from the salt water.

"Good." Gaul said as the van made a sharp turn into a parking lot by a rather run-down apartment complex. "And we made it in one piece… mostly." He scratched his ears.

"Yeah. Though the cops will likely be after us because of the mayhem we caused." Éclair jumped out of the van, Shinku doing the same. "So we don't have much time. We'll need to make this quick."

"Agreed." Gaul replied, sliding out of the van and pulling out an outdated Mk 2 "pineapple" grenade.

"Um, what are you doing with that?" Shinku asked, point to the ridged green grenade that Gaul held.

"Covering up some evidence." He simply replied, turning to Éclair. "Start heading to our room, bring him with you of course. Start explaining things to him, why I can drive, why I have guns blah blah blah." Gaul rolled his eyes, holding down the trigger for the grenade. Éclair nodded and took Shinku's hand, taking him into the apartment with her. Watching them, and looking to make sure the van was where it would not cause to much damage, Gaul pulled the pin out of the grenade and tossed it into the van. "Fire in the hole." Gaul shrugged as he darted away from the van. Moments later, the grenade exploded sending fragments of shrapnel into the engine and gas tank of the van and igniting the fuel, making the van jump into about five feet in the air with a spectacular fireball. Gaul only smiled at this before slipping his hands into his pockets and walked over to the apartment. Hopefully Éclair could have summed up a few things to Shinku, as Gaul didn't like explaining things much.

* * *

**(A/N : Well, here is chapter one for you of my first attempt at a non-crossover Dog Days story. I decided to try writing the characters as their older selves, as seen in season two with Shinku and Gaul in mind. Can't complain about the back story, as I mean 10 years in the future is a long time. Can't really just leave that blank, now can I. So, there you have it. I assure you it will make more sense as the story goes on. But was making Dog Days more militarized a good idea? Likely not. But, we'll see. Ratings may change. Enjoy.)**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Time Travel, Again

"So, can you now explain what is going on?" Shinku asked as he, Éclair, and Gaul scaled the cement staircase that ran through the old apartment building.

"We will once we get inside." Éclair replied as she and Gaul jogged up the stairs, Shinku jogging behind them. "We can't waste time now."

"Didn't you tell him anything?" Gaul asked her with a sigh, gripping the metal railing.

"I explained we are older." She shrugged, turning with the staircase. "And told him we know about weapons.

"Did you tell him something not that obvious?" Gaul asked with a hiss, approaching an exit to the stairwell.

"Well, I needed to tell him something." Éclair shrugged as the three quickly darted into a hallway and to a rear apartment with the door labeled "501". "Alright, you got the keys?"

"No I gave them to my sister. Of course I have the keys!" Gaul replied, wiggling them out of his pocket and inserting them into the lock on the door knob. With a signature "click" sound, the door became unlocked and the three entered the apartment. Compared to the mess in this apartment, Shinku's messy apartment would be considered spotless. Aside from the sour smell and the peeling wallpaper, the room was filled with empty beer, soda, and sports drink cans. Complementing this were wrappers of candy, instant noodles, and convenient store meals. And this was just the living room, a quick glance in the bedroom showed an old mattress laying on the ground. Put it simply, this apartment was disgusting.

"Sorry 'bout the mess." Éclair said, heading over to the ugly brown couch and sitting down on the couch, propping her legs up on a wooden table that was in front of the couch, knocking over a few wrappers as she did so.

"Mess? This looks like a disaster zone!" Shinku declared, looking at the mess. He was never a neat freak himself, but this just was disgusting. Revolting even.

"Well, sorry about not being neat freaks." Gaul said as he scratched his grey ears and sat on a chair across from the couch, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from another pocket. "Smoke?" he offered it to both Éclair and Shinku. Shinku shook his head while Éclair grabbed one of the popped-out cigarettes, to Shinku's surprise. Gaul did the same.

"You guys smoke? Isn't it bad for you?" Shinku asked, deciding to sit next to Éclair.

"May be to you, but for us it's completely harmless." Gaul replied, pulling out a lighter and lighting the cigarette. He then did the same for Éclair.

"How could you tell?" Shinku asked with a cough. Second hand smoke never agreed with him, like how it never agreed with anyone.

"We have tobacco back in Flonyard. However, we use a different substance for smoking. Well, we did before tobacco took over." Gaul sighed, the smoke leaving his mouth as he sighed. "It's hard to explain, but I will promise you it can't harm us."

"Can chocolate harm you?" Shinku asked with a tilted head and a cough. He always wondered that, given the residents of Flonyard did have the tails and ears of animals.

"No." Éclair replied, crossing her legs and blowing a puff of smoke. "It can if eaten in extremely large amounts, say five thousand pounds of it. But a single bar won't do us any harm."

"I see." Shinku replied, wanting to pet Éclair on the head like he used to. But he wondered if that would be a bad idea given her armaments. A still entered the room and Shinku tapped his fingers on his legs, eyeing wooden boxes that lined the back wall. He'd rather not ask what was in those boxes.

"So, Shinku. Want to hear the story now?" Éclair asked, looking down at the cigarette held between her fingers.

"Sure." Shinku said with a smile. Both Gaul and Éclair glared at him.

"You won't be smiling after the story." Éclair replied with a glare. Shinku gulped though nodded. Éclair started the story. "So, it began only one week after you all returned home. There were a few people who were saying that our kingdom was bad and so forth."

"We had the same." Gaul nodded his head.

"No one really thought much of it." Éclair continued. "Just some weird people saying nonsense. But they just went on with it. Sometimes for days on end. Then we had graffiti, very mean graffiti. It usually called Leo and Millhiore whores while claiming Kuberu was a "little" girl. Mostly they joked she had no pubic hair."

"Sounds mean." Shinku replied.

"The Kuberu one made me laugh though." Gaul shrugged.

"Well, these "vandals", we thought they were vandals at the time, began to attack the heroes as well as defacing some statues and pictures. Again, we were foolish to think it was some vandals. It was spreading like wildfire. Especially once "articles" came out in newspapers saying how the kingdoms were mismanaging money, overtaxing the poor and giving benefits to nobles and the rich."

"Sounds like how it is here." Shinku shrugged.

"Well, unlike Earth, our people had always had complete faith in our leaders. So seeing these stories in papers, their minds began to change. If it was written it was true, right?" Éclair blew out another puff of smoke. "That's what people thought, anyhow. So, someone suggested that people should protest. Voice the people or some shit like that. Millhiore became scared. She contacted Leo and Kuberu in private on what to do, seeing as all three kingdoms had the same problem. This made it actually worse, as those protesting saw this as their leaders scheming something."

"What conclusion came out of the meeting?" Shinku asked, watching as Éclair switched her legs by placing the left one over the right.

"The loyal knights and guards should be deployed as riot police. Let the people protest, but stop them if they became violent. So the day came of the protest, as they decided to tell us ahead of time. Our riot police got ready and areas for the protest were set up. About one thousand people came into our kingdom to protest. It was peaceful at first and it seemed nothing bad would happen to us or our city." Éclair was silent for a moment, her faded eyes watching the last of her cigarette burn out with a dying flicker. "But I saw something. I was assigned to the riot duty that day and I saw one of our knights look fishy. I never remember seeing him before, in training or anything. I guessed at that time that it may have been a recruit or maybe someone who was last and assigned somewhere else. So I sorta put it out of my mind, but my gut told me otherwise. And my gut was right." She paused again and looked up at Gaul. As if they had an unspeakable language, he passed her another cigarette and gladly lit it for her with his lighter.

"Just as the protesters approached, he pulled something off of his back and pointed it at the protesters. It was an AK-47. No one really knew what that was, hell, our firearm knowledge was limited. That all changed when he started firing into the crowd and as if on que someone fired back. That's when I knew this was all being planned. No one else cared at that time and both sides attacked each other." She stopped again to catch her breath. "Our Gods still protected us, so no one got hurt as usual, but it was still bad for our image."

"And the exact same thing happened to us." Gaul replied, crushing the head of the half-burnt cigarette into a small grey ashtray. "Same with Kuberu."

"And while we worried about the people in the capitols, we likely should have worried about the villages. The rumors were hitting them hard, very hard. They saw that if the kingdoms could not protect them, who would? Well, the answer came with a charismatic man named "Dmitri". He told the villages and protesters that they should rebel against their leaders, that they should be their own governments."

"The short story. That guy could talk and talk." Gaul laughed as he lit another cigarette. Sucking in a puff, he coughed as the smoke entered the wrong airway.

"Well, to our surprise, he had been arming and grooming the villagers for years. And they were massing a modern army, all under our noses." Éclair added.

"These protests, I found out later, were only an excuse to ship heavy equipment around without worry. The villagers have known this man and his weapons for years." Gaul said, noticing that Éclair was trembling. "So, what we had happen was an army began growing in the north composed of villagers, exiles, runaways, and deflectors."

"Question though, I remember Kuberu's people using guns." Shinku said. "Very old-looking guns, but guns none-the-less."

"Yeah, well AK's and old muskets look quite different." Gaul pointed out with a crumpled eyebrow. "Anyhow, this army was technologically superior to us. But we figured we could show how good our rulers are by creating a joint army and fighting back against these rebels. We massed an army of eighty thousand, compared to the five thousand that "Dmitri" created. We thought we could win, we had more men and women."

"But they had tanks, helicopters, and guns." Éclair replied, blowing a puff of smoke. "And to top it all off, the Gods who were to protect the world vanished. Poof, gone. We could die now."

"We called that day the Day of Judgment." Gaul added, again cutting off Éclair. "So, anyhow, our army arrived and engaged the others." Both Gaul and Éclair were silent for a moment. Gaul finally spoke. "We were massacred. Without our Gods protecting us, our army decided to hold back. Our enemy didn't. And it shouldn't take a genius to know that bullets beat swords. Our infantry went first in a bloody mess. They tried to counter, but they just were decimated. Last time I saw Godwin alive, I heard he took a sniper's bullet. So, our hope feel on our Calvary, both airborne and ground based. Neither fared well. The airborne one, mostly Kuberu's people, went up against Hinds and Havocs, which cut them to shreds. Our ground based one… well… they faced tanks of all sorts and sizes. Only two hundred tanks mixed with about a hundred or so APC's and such. The tanks, I remember well, has these bulldozer blades with razors attached. They charged our Calvary and just ran them down. We couldn't hit the tanks back, but they could hit us. I remember some tanks were completely covered in blood."

"It was the last time I saw my brother." Éclair spoke, referring to Loran Martinozzi. "He led the final charge and a T-80 ran him down." The room became silent again, and Éclair brought her legs to her chest.

"Our army was wiped out and any survivors went to their own kingdoms in fear and shame. The entire thing was televised… and it does no one any good if your army gets routed live for the world to see. Chaos then overcame the kingdoms. A rouge army was on the loose and about sixty thousand volunteers died in a failed counter attack."

"That's why I was sent the letters, right?" Shinku asked. Gaul and Éclair nodded.

"Our leaders planned to head to Earth if anything went wrong, to stay with our heroes and live in exile. That never happened." Gaul explained.

"The army broke down the walls of our castles." Éclair spoke, interrupting Gaul. "We were about to head out to Earth, but before we did those bastards broke in." she then looked at a large scar on her arm. "It was just me, the princess, Rico, and Yukki in that room. They were given the order to stop us from leaving but not kill us." Éclair's entire body turned pale and she began to tremble, loosening ashes from her burning cigarette. "And apparently they had the order to have some fun with us as well." She sunk her head down and blew out a puff of smoke. It was obvious what had happened to her. Gaul looked at Shinku and shook his head.

"Éclair, go to the bedroom. Rest a bit, ok?" Gaul more or less told her to do that rather than suggested it. Éclair nodded, tears now coming down her face as she crushed the head of her cigarette and ran off to the bedroom. Gaul only frowned. "It's a very sensitive topic to her. That year and the events. She lost a lot. We both did."

"Are you and her…" Shinku began as Gaul shook his head with a smirk.

"No. Admittedly we're good friends now… it would never work." Gaul leaned his head back and blew out a puff of smoke. "You know, she loved you at one time."

"I figured looking back on it." Shinku replied, folding his hands. Back then, as a boy, he was rather thick-headed when it came with romance. "She was my first kiss and all."

"I remember hearing about that." He and Shinku were silent for a bit. "But if you do want another chance with her, I don't suggest you try. After that day, she shut herself off basically. Unless it involved fighting or basic living needs, she could care less. That day, she lost feeling. She just lost the will to care."

"Sounds the same to me." Shinku smiled. Gaul didn't.

"Listen, for your and Éclair's sake, don't do anything stupid."

"I've aged." Shinku replied.

"Good." Gaul said with a nod. "Now, back on story. All three kingdoms fell in a matter of weeks. Chaos was around, it was just hell. I got lucky though and escaped thanks to those knuckle-heads." Gaul referred to the three members of the "Génoise", Noir Vinocacao, Jaune Clafoutis, and Vert Far Breton. "They helped me out during the siege, against my will actually. They then decided to go back; Noir telling me the only way to win would be if I live. Last time I saw them alive. A few days later I found their bodies not even five feet away from where I had last seen them. Sniper picked them off with a fifty." Gaul stopped again. "Fifty caliber rounds don't do any good to a body. They were torn up pretty bad. Not pretty." He stopped and sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Basically, I thought I was on my own. But I met Éclair. How'd she escaped, I don't know. Just don't ask her, she'll bite."

"I don't blame her, given what you have told me." Shinku replied. Éclair was always one to "bite" at people, but now she had more than every right to. "How long have you two been fighting?"

"Nine years." Gaul replied. "We've been trying to hamper these rebels for nine years. Just me and Éclair."

"What of the others?" Shinku asked, though knowing well enough the answer.

"Dead. My sister, the princess, and Kuberu were executed a year after the uprising. I saw them… they were bone-thin, their eyes were blank…" Gaul stopped, as his mind would not let him go on. Shinku was silent and bit his lip. Those three girls were good friends, some closer than others. "Everyone else was executed at one time or another. If you had any connection with any of the kingdoms, you were to be killed. It was a witch hunt for years." Gaul cupped his hands. "So, in a nut shell, that's our story." Shinku looked at his feet.

"Those guys who were chasing us…"

"Government agents." Gaul replied. "Basically, we believe someone tipped us off to the governments of the world. And now they want to kill us."

"Why would they do that?" Shinku asked, watching Gaul tap his foot rapidly.

"Because of what we are planning on doing." Gaul replied, pointing to a closed room behind him. "You know what's in that room?"

"No." Shinku shook his head.

"A make-shift time machine. We "borrowed" the design from the rebels. Apparently it's a machine to jump to other worlds, but after a lot of research we think we were able to make it jump back in time. We never tested it, of course." Gaul sighed, noting the look of absolute disbelief that Shinku had.

"You're kidding." Shinku finally spoke after a moment of silence. Gaul shook his head as he got up from his chair and walked to the door, unlocking it and pushing it in. Inside the room were more wooden crates and a metallic circle that was attached to the back wall. It looked extremely make-shift, with wires exposed and pieces hanging off.

"Not the most pretty of devices, but it works. We've turned it on before and it was a portal. We tried putting a camera on a rope and pushed it into the portal. But when we pulled back, no camera and half the rope were gone. Explain how that could have vanished into a wall." Gaul then shut the door and took his seat in the same chair.

"So, the government is after the device then?" Shinku asked. There were so many things he wanted to ask or question, but then again Shinku wasn't new to the world of confusion and things that just defy logic. Flying mountains, being an example.

"That, us, or both. We guess that they may fear that going back in time and changing Flonyard's past could change the present of your world." Gaul replied.

"But… I didn't think that Flonyard and Earth reacted." Shinku scratched his head. "But I do know about the chaos theory. I cannot recall anything major happening after my adventures."

"But no one has changed the past of one world, have they?" Gaul asked with a smirk. "Which is the fearful part. Suppose this chaos theory is correct. Then that would mean that changing the past of our world would drastically alter your world. That is just a guess though, as since we never tried we never know what could happen. That and the world didn't really blow up after we lost the camera." Gaul added the last part for comic relief.

"I see." Shinku gripped his chin. "Tell me, though, how do we get back home once we go back, if we go back I should add."

"We either get Rico to build us something, or we just don't come back at all." Gaul shrugged. "This is why we are calling this Operation Retaliation."

"You gave this a name?" Shinku raised an eyebrow. Gaul nodded.

"Might raise morale."

"Whatever works for you." Shinku shrugged as Éclair suddenly ran into the room, her face now clear of tears but full of annoyance and anger.

"We gotta move. Cops and SAT are out there." Éclair said hurriedly, with SAT standing for the _Tokushu Kyūshū Butai_, or in English the Special Assault Team. The SAT, much like the American SWAT, acted to fight against terrorist or those criminals that are heavily armed. Given Éclair blew up a government car with government agents with a AT4, it be no surprise that SAT would be called.

"Shit, they found us that fast?" Gaul said as he swung up from his chair.

"You blew up a van! I'm surprised they didn't find us sooner!" Shinku replied with a voice filled with worry. He actually never asked why the two had grabbed him, though he could guess it had to do with helping the two.

"Oh shut up!" Éclair exclaimed, running to the crates. "Now I'm not sure about you, but I kinda don't want to get caught and dissected." She directed the comment to Gaul.

"I know I know!" he exclaimed, running to Éclair and helping her pick up one of the crates. "Shinku. Decision time. You going to help us or not?"

"You didn't have to ask." Shinku smiled, as he picked up one of the crates and carried it over his shoulder. It was heavy.

"Start the device, start the device." Éclair said as she dropped the crate and ran into the room with the "portal", tapping some controls. Instantly, the machine began to glow with the frame holding a purple light of sorts. Without a second though, Éclair began to grab the crates and push them into the portal, Gaul and Shinku following suit. There were about twenty crates in all, some large, some long, and some small. All were heavy and some required two people to push into the portal. And the portal must have worked, as it devoured every crate with a flash of blue. By the time the last crate had been shoved into the portal, the front door was broken door with a loud thud.. Standing in the door frame was an SAT member dressed in black with a ballistic helmet, a tactical vest, knee and shoulder pads and wielding an MP5A4 with a side-mounted laser system.

"Police! Stop what you are doing and surrender!" the man yelled, aiming down his iron sights. Gaul responded by grabbing his P90 and firing a quick burst into the man's leg. The SAT member collapsed to the ground in pain and as he cried out two more SAT members entered the apartment, one armed with an M4 carbine while the other had another MP5A4.

"Get in the portal, get in the portal! Blow it up!" Gaul yelled as the men began to fire into the room, the bullets hitting the wall and machine. Éclair darted into the machine first while Gaul had to push Shinku into it before he himself jumped into the portal, clicking a small device on the frame as he did so.

"Clear!" one of the members yelled as the other pulled the injured man out of the room. As they exited the room, a small trail of blood showing the route, two other men entered the room, each armed with a M4 carbine. The three, armed with the M4's, slowly approached the room with the machine, only to hear a light beeping noise.

"Bomb!" one yelled as the three darted out of the apartment, the room with the machine and the apartment for that matter going up in flames as a small time bomb attached to the machine exploded.

* * *

"Alright… sound off if you are alive." Gaul said, opening his eyes to the view of darkness.

"H-Here…" Shinku coughed, feeling something soft.

"Quite grabbing my boob." Éclair groaned.

"Éclair is alive and well." Shinku stated. "You know, I forgot Tatsumaki at home… wonder if he is ok." He sighed, trying to get a view of the world around him but his dizzy hand prevented him from doing so.

"He'll live." Éclair said simply, panting. Time travel was very tiring, it would seem.

"Hey… Shinku… how's your cousin… what was her name?" Gaul asked aloud.

"Nanami. She's fine." Shinku laughed a bit. "Taken if you were wondering."

"Ah. Oh well… not my type, anyhow…" Gaul said with a heavy sigh which sounded more like a yawn. "I might just take a little nap… I earned it."

"Yeah." Shinku said with heavy eyes. Éclair was already out. Rather be rested for a new day then tired, right?

* * *

**(A/N: So, here is chapter two for you. Sorry for a back story, but I can't just dive right into the story, can I? I mean, I could, but it do the story no justice. Anyhow, enjoy.)**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Politics and Guns

"So, what is going on exactly?" the Secretary of Defense of the United States spoke to a small group of men that sat around a table. With the SoD was also the Prime Minister of Japan, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and the Defense Minister of Japan.

"It would appear that it's starting. The wheels of fate." The PM of Japan replied, cupping his hands.

"Pardon my rudeness, Prime Minster." The PM of Britain spoke. "But I do not think this is "fate". Rather, this is an act of terrorism, which could lead to serious results in this time."

"Gentlemen, we must remember that Earth and Flonyard are not really connected. Could changing one really affect the other?" the SoD spoke with a cough. "I hardly see this event as something that could warrant such an expensive operation as you three propose."

"You forget, Mr. Secretary, but we are dealing with terrorist who killed _our _people on _our _land. Even if America is not backing us up, we will carry on with this operation. Killing our people is a grave misfortune on their parts, as it is an open act of war!" the Defense Minister of Japan ranted, pounding his fist into the table which rattled a glass of water that stood nearby.

"Please do not get so angry." The PM of Japan replied to the Defense Minister's rant. "We need to not do anything that is too risky or could hurt us in the long run."

"Well then, Prime Minster, what do you suppose to do?" the SoD replied, both Japanese men turning to look at the American. "You need to know that America will stand behind Japan, but only if we are not wasting our time."

"And I understand that, Mr. Secretary." The Defense Minister replied. "But what has happened here was a direct attack on our people."

"As well as the apparent kidnapping of one of our citizens." The PM of Britain added, holding a file folder. "Shinku Izumi, a man of both Japanese and British decent as well as a citizen of both our countries. As the report suggests, he was dragged along for the ride, so who knows what is to happen to him." The man shrugged before turning to the Japanese PM. "Tell me, what you do know of this man. I am quite certain you have tabs on him." The two Japanese men looked at each other, and muttered a few words in Japanese to one another. The Defense Minster then nodded.

"Izumi Shinku, aged 24, is a rather ordinary. He is athletic and competed in a few competitions when he was young. He is currently working at a convenience store, but aside from that is completely unextraordinary." The Defense Minister replied.

"Except for the two times he went missing in 2011, in the spring and in the summer. Is that correct?" the PM of Britain replied with a glare.

"Yes…" the Defense Minister nodded hesitantly. "Records do indicate he seemed to have completely vanished during these two periods of time, though we do have a few cellphone calls from himself during the spring incident and his cousin during the summer incident stating they were "fine". That's about all though."

"So this boy vanishes for extended periods of time. Any idea where he could have gone off to?" the SoD of America asked.

"Well… given the situation now. It might be possible that…"

"That he somehow traveled to the land of Flonyard." The SoD cut off the Prime Minster of Japan. "Which brings the question if he is working with them or not. That is speculation at best. We only know that we have two government agents' dead, a bunch of cops injured, a missing man, and a teleportation device. We are dealing with something big, I will tell you that. If, by speculation, that this boy did go to Flonyard before, then we can say that no drastic changes have occurred."

"By that same argument, Mr. Secretary, couldn't we pose that things hypothetically did drastically change but we were unaware of it?" the PM of Britain added.

"Gentlemen, we are dealing on a lot of hypothetically questions. Should we not just focus on the facts?" the PM of Japan asked.

"I agree." The Minister of Defense added. "We should stick to the facts, not the unknowns."

"Alright then. Well, what do you propose we do then? We got a bunch of things going on, and a plan of action would most certainly be useful." The PM of Britain added.

"I might have an idea." The SoD replied. "Drones."

"Drones?" the PM of Japan asked.

"Yes. The United States has a vast collection of UAVs we can use. I think we should send them in first, in order to monitor the situation. Then we will decide actions based on the footage we collect." The SoD replied.

"But, could we get a video feed if we did this?" the PM of Britain asked with a tilted head. Drones were a feasible option, but there were questions that needed to be answered first. "And how do we even get drones there in the first place? We can't use the technology our foes used, as they blew it up."

"We won't have to use their device. The United States has been working on technology of this for years. We just need to work out a few bugs first." The SoD replied as he scratched his chin. "Give us about a week, and we should have a drone in the air. We can then evaluate if the operation is safe and feasible for our men, as well as if it is even needed."

"So, a week's time we will know what to do?" the PM of Japan asked, adjusting his glasses. The SoD nodded. He again looked at the Minster of Defense and nodded. "Alright, a week it is then. We will make sure to stay in touch during this time. I'd like to call this meeting to an end. Thank you, gentlemen, for your corporation on this matter." He said as he and the other delegates rose from their seats and took their leave.

* * *

Shinku was stiff, and it didn't help that Éclair was lying across his chest while Gaul was sound asleep across his legs. He then opened his eyes and blinked rapidly so they could adjust to the sunlight that was showering his face.

"My head." He groaned a few seconds later, gripping his forehead and covering his eyes. Now with light in the room, it was apparent that the group was in a stone cellar of sorts. Old, smelly, and with the constant drip of water made the room what it was. "And my legs and chest…" he added as he looked at the two sleeping over his body. "Hey… mind getting off me… hey…" Shinku said in a low voice. Éclair and Gaul didn't responded, only snored. Apparently they were wiped. "Come on… get off." Shinku now asked with a mild voice. Still, the two remained out. Shinku sighed and lightly began to shake Éclair. "Come on, wake up." In response to this, Éclair grabbed Shinku's arm with great force and tried to twist it. Shinku responded by shaking his own body to avoid having his arm broken, which in turn woke Gaul who yelled out and slammed his fist into the nearest object, the back of Éclair's head. This launched her head forward, slamming her forehead into Shinku's head. And within that split second, Gaul and Éclair had their P90's pointed at one another.

"What was that?" Éclair exclaimed.

"What was what? You woke me up with your yelling!" Gaul replied.

"I wasn't yelling!"

"Neither was I!"

"Mind doing me a favor and not arguing on top of me?" Shinku asked in a daze. The two looked at him in confusion and then back at each other. "Please… you're both kinda heavy."

"Watch it." Éclair said with a glare, getting off Shinku while Gaul did the same.

"Thank you." Shinku coughed, sitting upright and rubbing his sore forehead. "Now what just happened?"

"Something touched me, so I reacted with extreme caution." Éclair replied.

"That was me. I was trying to wake you up. You didn't have to attempt to break my arm." Shinku replied.

"Well what business did you have trying to wake me up?" Éclair put her hands on her hips and glared at Shinku.

"You were crushing me. You and Gaul." Shinku added. "Why were you all sleeping on me anyways?" Gaul and Éclair were silent for a moment.

"It was cold. Making a natural dog pile helped regulate body temperature amongst the whole group." Éclair said with a monotone voice. Gaul only nodded with crossed hands.

"What she said." Gaul said as he thumbed Éclair. "Though, where are we?"

"A cellar under a castle it would appear." She replied with crossed arms. "But of which kingdom and or palace, I do not know."

"Ain't ours." Gaul shrugged. "I've been in every room of our palace and this room doesn't match any. I'd say it be Biscotti's castle given the stone structure." He rubbed his chin as his eyes glanced at the stone work. "We didn't use these types of stones."

"Well, let's not worry about stone work more so then the munitions." Éclair quickly said, cutting off Gaul.

"Munitions?" Shinku asked with a tilted head, looking at the twenty or so boxes that lay in the back of the cellar. "That's what is in those boxes? Weapons?"

"But of course. What else would be in a bunch of wooden crates?"

"Well…" Shinku rubbed the back of his head as he trailed on. Of course it had to be weapons, what else would be in a bunch of shady boxes?

"If it make you feel better, one of them has some uniforms, dot sights of all sorts and night optics, helmets, vests… and you know, everything else that we stol… I mean "borrowed" from some special operation forces." Gaul replied with a smirk.

"You stole from special forces?" Shinku asked with a tilted head.

"You gotta do what you gotta do." Éclair shrugged, approaching the nearest crate and flipping the lid off. The inside of the small crate was lined with straw, supporting a SIG SG 552 Commando assault rifle with a 346 mm barrel. Along with the actual gun, five 30-round polymer magazines lay around the carbine.

"What is that?" Shinku asked, looking over Éclair's shoulder.

"A SG 552." Éclair replied, picking up the rifle and aiming down the rounded iron sights. "It's the commando version of the 550. Smaller, more compact, rails, a beauty."

"I see." Shinku nodded with a confused glance. Aside from video games, he didn't know much about guns. "So, um, how many guns did you bring?"

"Twenty-six guns in total." Éclair replied as she pulled back the charging handle of the SIG and released it, the gun making a loud clanking sound in response. "We have four 552s, a WA2000 sniper rifle and a RT-20 20mm sniper rifle, two SCAR-Ls with CQB barrels, two Magpuls PDRs, four P90s including the two me and Gaul have on, my two MP5Ks, four Glock 17Cs, two Five-sevens, a RPG-7, a M60E4 machine gun, and two ARX-160s assault rifles. In actual total, we have twenty-seven given our little "surprise" we have." She then thumbed the largest of the crates.

"What's in it?"

"Davy Crockett." Éclair replied.

"Why do you have him?"

"It's not that guy." Gaul added, though only having a slight knowledge of the man. "But a nuclear device. The M-28 Davy Crockett Weapon System. Don't ask how we got it; don't ask how we maintain it. Just know we have it, and that is all you need to know. Got it? Also don't tell anyone we have this stuff, ok?"

"Um… sure…" Shinku only shook his head. He had no clue what this "system" was, but he knew well enough what a nuclear device was. He didn't think much about the other request. "So, we got a lot of guns, and a nuke. Correct?"

"Among others, yes. We also have grenades, a few grenade launchers, flash bangs, gas, smoke…" Éclair went on although she was tuned out by the others.

"So, we got the weapons. What now?" Shinku asked as Gaul flipped the lid off another crate and pulled out a SCAR-L with a short CQB barrel, proceeding to toss it to Shinku. He hesitantly caught the half-metal half-polymer gun.

"We go pay whoever is in charge a visit." Gaul added with a smirk and a twitch of his ears. "You know how to use one of those, right?"

"You're asking me, a person who has lived in Japan most of his life, if I know how to fire and operate a real working gun?" Shinku replied in sarcasm.

"Basically. So, yes or no?" Gaul asked.

"No, not at all. I played paintball before. And I have played video games…" he rubbed his head in embarrassment.

"So you know how to use a gun then?"

"Not a real one!"

"Well, do you know how to pull a trigger and switch a selector switch?"

"Trigger, yes. Selector switch… kinda…" Shinku shook his free hand.

"Well you know how to work a gun. Just aim down the sights and fire when I tell you to, ok?" Éclair said, slapping Shinku's shoulder. "Just make sure that the safety is on when you are not firing."

"How do I do that?" Shinku asked, looking over the gun. He knew about the safety on the gun, he just didn't know how to actually turn it on or off. Or even if that was the terms to describe the safety.

"See that little knob thing?" Gaul pointed to said knob-like device that was on both sides of the SCAR, right above the grip. "Flick it down." Shinku complied and flipped it down until it could not be moved anymore. "Give yourself a pat on the back, you put on the safety. Put the switch in the middle if you want to fire single rounds, simi-auto, and push it all the way up if you want to fire non-stop, fully auto." Gaul gave a rather quick description of the functions of the SCAR. "Just press that little button on the butt stock to fold it, press the one on the back to extend the stock, the sights flip up or down… and pull that little latch back to load a round into the chamber. You need a mag first." Gaul then proceeded to grab a 30-round STANAG magazine and toss it to Shinku. "I'll assume you can load a gun at least."

"I put the magazine in and pull this thingy." Shinku pointed to the charging handle.

"Now tell me how you remove it."

"I…"

"You press one of those buttons." Éclair butted in and pointed to the two magazine release buttons on either side of the guns. "This will drop the spent or used mag. Remember that even if you eject a magazine, a round will still be in the chamber if the mag wasn't completely empty. To eject it, pull the handle back. This will eject the extra round. Also note that when you pull the charging handle back, it will lock in place. Press this button to unlock it. This is the bolt release button." she pointed to the features on the SCAR.

"Ok. I thought they just go back into place once you pulled them."

"You thought wrong." Gaul shrugged.

"I see. So, you're telling me all this because…"

"You've never used a gun before." Éclair added. "A gun is much different from a staff or a dagger. You need time to get the hang of it. About a day or so."

"I see." Shinku replied, holding the rifle by the grip.

"However, it's different from weapon to weapon. So find a gun you like and get comfy with it. It'll take you awhile to be like us and get use to every gun." Éclair added. "Now then, onto the mission. Gaul, you stay here. Shinku and I will examine the upper levels."

"Why do I have to stay?" Gaul complained.

"Why do I have to go?" Shinku complained.

"Quite bitching and do what I tell ya." Éclair snapped at the two. "Besides, we can't spend all day underground. We need to get a move on in order to secure our supplies. We lose these caches, it's over for us."

"Couldn't we work this out in a more peaceful manner?" Shinku asked.

"We could." Éclair replied. "But I like using bullets more than peace. Also, make sure you grab yourself an extra mag."

* * *

"I should warn you I'm not actually good with sneaking." Shinku whispered to Éclair as the two darted around the halls of whatever palace they were in. Just as Éclair guessed, the palace was the one in Biscotti. Art work and treasures lined the halls, though the two didn't have interest in either.

"Will you shut up? We're supposed to go unnoticed, not play twenty-questions!" Éclair snapped back in a whisper.

"Sorry." Shinku lowered his head as he followed Éclair through the maze of halls. As of yet, neither of them had to fire any shots. Something Shinku considered being in the category of good luck. "But, say, couldn't we just tell her up front who we are and what we are doing? I'm sure she would believe us."

"To risky. We need to do this by force." Éclair replied, peering around a corner before retracting her head.

"But wouldn't it be…"

"Shinku, I've done this shit for nine years, alright? I _know _what is a good idea and a bad idea, alright? Now I'm not in the market for new ideas. So do me a favor and keep them to yourself, alright?" Éclair snapped. Shinku sighed and nodded. She was right, even if the entire plan appear illogical to Shinku. "Now, cover my back."

"From what?"

"From anyone or anything that might try to jump us from behind." Éclair replied. Shinku decided to not make a comment for Éclair's sake.

"Roger." Was all that Shinku replied, turning around so he was back-to-back with Éclair. His back tensed up for some reason as he pressed back against Éclair. Her firm, rather broad back.

"Mind not pressing up against me?"

"Oh, sorry." Shinku squatted about a foot away from her.

"Thank you. Now, on my signal we go. Ok?" Éclair whispered as Shinku nodded. "What's the signal?"

"Just start running. Now." Éclair sighed, darting into the hallway with quick reflections while Shinku more or less stumbled into the hallway. He really wasn't use to running around with a nearly seven pound gun. His weapon of choice was more along the lines of a lightweight staff. But already, Éclair had outpaced him. Of course, each MP5K was only four pounds. But using two of them simultaneously would equal about 8.9 pounds. And adding the weight of the P90, which was 6.6 pounds in weight with the magazine, meant Éclair was carrying roughly 15.5 pounds worth of guns. And this weight did not include spare magazines

"You're fast." Shinku muttered, slowly gaining pace with Éclair.

"You get used to it." She replied as the two rounded a corner, coming to a hallway filled with windows. "Hold up." She grabbed the collar of Shinku's shirt, causing him to slip backwards and fall on his back.

"Éclair! The hell?" Shinku muttered, looking up at the girl in back.

"Look." She replied simply, pointing out the window. Getting to his feet, Shinku grumbled and looked out the window.

"What? I just see…"

"Not there, there." She grabbed the back of Shinku's neck and pulled his head slightly to the right so his field of vision would match hers. "See that?"

"Yeah… looks like a large crowd. What about it?" Shinku asked.

"This was that event nine years ago." Éclair replied with glee.

"That event…" Shinku tried to recall what Éclair was talking about. "Oh, you mean that tri-festival thingy."

"Thingy… yes." Éclair muttered. "But you know what this means?"

"Not really but I figure you will explain it to me." Shinku replied as Éclair sighed.

"It means we actually went back in time. We're not screwed!" she cheered, embracing Shinku in friendly embrace. He became slightly red at this action, but before he could react she retracted herself from him. "Now we can barricade ourselves in the princesses office without much trouble!"

"Yeah… what?"

"Well, it's simple. We now move everything from the cellar into the office, barricade ourselves in, and threaten to burn any and all important documents unless our demands are met."

"That… couldn't we…"

"Shinku." Éclair glared at the man. "I've known this land and these people for years. You only knew them for weeks. Now, would you trust my instinct or yours?"

"Well…" Shinku rubbed his head. "Yours." Éclair gave a rather sinister grin in response.

"Now we are in agreement, go help Gaul with the munitions. I'm going to gather all important documents and treasures. So move it, time is important." And with that, she darted down the hall leaving a rather worried and curious Shink.

* * *

Godwin's ear twitched as he took a sip of his wine. Having tuned out the bumbling Génoise, his ears traveled to small talk two soldiers were having.

"I'm telling you." One soldier said to the other, flexing his spear. "I saw a flying machine."

"I doubt it." The other mumbled. Godwin smiled. Small talk among soldiers was always a good thing to boost morale. If only he could get the Génoise to have the same morale as his troops.

"Flying machines." Godwin laughed silently to himself. "What will they think of next?"

* * *

**(A/N: Chapter three. Alright. And since I am actually not a cruel person, we have pairings in this story! But, don't worry, this isn't some stereotypical "lots of love, little war" story. I know what I am doing. Trust me, ok? Take it you'll not likely trust me, ok, well, here are the pairings. (subject to change, does not include one-sided)** **Older Eclair/Older Shinku, Millhori/younger Shinku, Older Gaul/Vert, Younger Gaul/Noir. Well, enjoy.)**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Thin Line Between Sanity and Insanity

For years, Millhiore's office was clean and pristine with every book on the fine-wooden bookshelves in place, every paper neatly stacked, and every decoration kept spotless. Of course, this was mostly due to the hard-working staff that maintained the castle. And Millhiore did her best to not ruin her office. So, it would come to no surprise that anyone would be shocked that the office was ruined by the three strangers. And Millhiore was no exception to this.

Her beautiful office was in shambles thanks to these three persons. Her desk was overturned and blocked the doorway, the bookcases were torn over and covering the windows, and there was a M60 pointed in her face. Of course, everything else was more or less minor compared to a giant machine gun placed in front of your face being operated by someone that looked like Gaul.

"Hi princess!" Gaul waved to her despite keeping the gun pointed squarely at her face. Before Millhiore could react, a large piece of wood was slammed over her head. This in turn caused the princess to disappear in a puff of smoke, leaving behind a small, pink furball of sorts. Standing over the ball of fluff was none other than Éclair, holding a now splinted piece of wood.

"Éclair!" both Shinku and Gaul shouted in unison at the woman.

"What?" she dropped the wooden plank as she shrugged.

"What? What? You just freaking killed the princess! Dammit Éclair, we're going to have to hide the body now! Shit. Alright, you go get a shovel and I'll…" but at this point Éclair cut Gaul off.

"You idiot, don't you remember? Back in the days of being "safe", we could only be "knocked-out" or some shit like that. And when we were, we became those little puff ball thingys you see there." She pointed at the princess, or the ball of fur that was her. Gaul and Shinku looked at the princess, then at Éclair.

"Hey, Éclair, where did you get that piece of wo…"

"So what the hell do we do now?" Gaul asked impatiently. "The whole point was to take her hostage not kill her!" he moved his hands as he spoke, pointing at Éclair and Millhiore.

"I said we didn't kill her!" Éclair snapped back, her hands firmly planted on her hips. Just by the context of where the two were going caused Shinku to think that the two were not on the friendliest of terms. Especially since they were now insulting each other and cursing one another out. What made this worse was that each one was carrying a weapon; live, loaded firearm within arms reach.

"Um, could you maybe…"

"Well this was your idea all along!" Gaul shouted at Éclair.

"_My _idea? To hell with that! This was _our _idea, alright! And you were the one who was really into it!" Éclair shouted back.

"Guys?" Shinku tried to get another word it, yet it would seem that neither cared for his very existence at this moment, nor the existence of the now awake Millhiore, who was looking up at the commotion with a face of confusion. As much confusion as a ball of fluff could have. That made Shinku wonder; what was it like to become one of those fluff-ball things? He began to think as he picked up the ball-form of the Millhiore. Did entering this state hurt? Could you remember the experience? Could you even control yourself in that state?

"Fine, if you don't want me here I'll just pack my guns and go. Sounds good?" Gaul's voice interrupted Shinku's thought.

"_Your _guns? These are our guns!" Éclair replied, her hand having moved to the Glock that was hanging in a holster which wrapped itself around the woman.

"Yeah. And I get half." Gaul replied.

"What is this? Some sort of fucking custody battle?" Éclair replied. Now Gaul's hand was on the trigger of the M60. "Maybe we should just ask the flipping guns how they feel about this!"

"Maybe we should."

"Guys?" Shinku asked, finally getting the attention of the two, their raw, rage-filled attention.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?" the two yelled in unison to the unarmed Shinku.

"W-well, what are we going to do about the Princess?" Shinku asked with a small voice, in his hand Millhiore who was equally as scared as Shinku.

"Oh, yeah. Her. That's why we're here." Éclair replied, rubbing her head.

"Right right." Gaul replied, acting as if what happened not even thirty-seconds even occurred as he walked up to Shinku and picked up Millhiore by the tip of her head. She squirmed and made something along the lines of a whining sound. "Alright Princess, we nee..."

"Gaul, we can't talk in that form, remember?" Éclair reminded the grey-haired man with a sigh.

"We couldn't? Shit, what could we do?"

"Bounce around and not give a shit."

"Really? I can't recall… Was I ever turned into one of those little ball things?"

"I dunno. You know better than I do." Éclair shrugged.

"Speaking of, didn't you get turned into one of these little balls of fluff? I recall that having happened to you on numerous occasions." Gaul retorted.

"Excuse me? Me being defeated in battle? Who took on your sister and won? Remember that?" Éclair was now in Gaul's face, the still scared and confused Millhiore cowering in the face of Éclair's anger.

"Yeah, I remember. And that pisses me off." Gaul replied with a snarl.

"Guys!" Shinku shouted again, getting the attention of the two and Millhiore. "Will you two stop whining so much? I get that you two don't like each other, hell; you proved that from the start. But we're adults now. Can't we just discuss things with each other in a tame manner?" Shinku asked with annoyance. The relationship between Gaul and Éclair seemed to be deteriorating more and more since Shinku had met the two, though he could guess that maybe they just don't like each other from the start. Regardless, this fighting was getting annoying to the young man and he figured that if Gaul and Éclair just talked to each other, they could maybe get along. Hearing the request, Gaul and Éclair just looked at each other and then at Shinku.

"He's right you know." Gaul muttered.

"Yeah." Éclair nodded. A moment of silence fell upon the room and just as Shinku's hope for a peaceful resolution grew, it was shattered by Éclair drawing her Glock and firing off a round into both Shinku's and Gaul's left and right leg respectively. The two men crumpled to the ground in pain, Gaul dropping Millhiore in the process.

"What the fuck Éclair? I said peaceful! Oh God it hurts! Fuck!" Shinku began cursing as he clutched his leg. He was not known for swearing, but getting shot would be an exception to this rule. Looking at his leg, Shinku saw that the bullet had ripped a nice clean hole just three inches below the knee which exited just above the heel. Shinku start swearing more as he tried to cover the holes with his hands.

"Relax, would ya. This is how we solve everything." Gaul said to Shinku in a calm voice, pulling out a bandage from his pants pocket and casually mending his wound. The bullet had cut right along the side of the leg in a downward arch, leaving something along the lines of a deep cut rather than a bullet hole.

"A BULLET WENT THROUGH MY LEG! FUCK RELAXING " Shinku yelled back in pain, clutching his leg and biting his bottom lip. By sure luck, the bullet only cut through flesh and muscle but not the bone. So despite the burning pain and gusher of blood pouring out of the hole, Shinku would be able to walk on the leg. After, of course, he gets patched up.

"Geeze Éclair. Looks I think you might have shot him a bit too hard. I mean, look at him, he's withering in pain." Gaul pointed to Shinku.

"Gaul, I can't shot "less hard". A bullet is a bullet and if Shinku wants to help us, he needs to accept that pain in a reality." Éclair shrugged, flicking her glock onto safety and sliding it into her holster.

"FUCK YOU! I NEVER WANTED THIS SHIT!" Shinku growled as Gaul handed him a white cloth. Now Shinku knew the truth; Gaul and Éclair were on the thin line between sanity and insanity. And Shinku was stuck in the middle, both him and Millhiore. Speaking of, Millhiore was trying to bounce through the door and to safety. Éclair, spotting this, implanted her foot right onto of Millhiore's body.

"Now, were do you think you're going, princess?" Éclair gave a devilish grin as she pulled Millhiore out from under her boot. "You and us need to talk, ya hear?" Millhiore trembled as a response.

* * *

"So, to understand you clearly. You claim to be from the future and are trying to save our world from the same fate that your world suffered. Correct?" Millhiore asked, now in her usual body. Her face clearly showed the stress and annoyance she had as she sat behind her ruined desk, her eyes closed and noise turned upward.

"Exactly." Éclair replied.

"And you are asking to help of myself, Leo-sama, and Kuberu-sama?" Millhiore added.

"Yes." Gaul replied this time.

"No." Millhiore replied. "After assaulting me I should have you three arrested. But instead I will allow you three to leave with your… stuff." While Millhiore was normally a pleasant girl with a gentle personality, but when three strangers that look like Gaul, Shinku, and Éclair break into her office and attack her, she of course has to act like a princess.

"No? Really, no?" Éclair asked, stunned. "You're refusing to help us?"

"Yes, I am." Millhiore replied. Gaul and Éclair looked at each other, and nodded.

"Oh no. Oh no!" Shinku said, sitting in a corner and holding his bandaged leg. "I am not going to let you guys hurt the princess." Being in spiraling pain had removed Shinku from the early conversation with the restored Millhiore, but now with the pain now receding he could speak freely. "Look, Millhiore, I'm sorry about those two." Shinku began as he hobbled over to Millhiore's desk, using his hands to support himself. "They've been through a lot, ok? So, please let them and I stay here. We promise to not cause that much of a bother." Shinku tried to persuade Millhiore. Unfortunately for Millhiore, she wasn't really buying the whole time-travel idea.

"Let me ask you three something. Why is it I should believe you are really who you say you are?" Millhiore asked with a skeptic voice.

"Start asking us questions. That will work." Éclair shrugged.

"Fine, I will." Millhiore nodded. "But these are questions that only the real Shinku, Éclair, and Gaul will know. Now, let's see." She began to tap her chin as she thought, her face returning to its normal self. Shinku would comment about her being cute, but given their age difference, he'd rather not. "Oh, yes. For "Éclair". When we were young, who took us on that camping trip that got us lost for a day?"

"Yuki. She wanted to show us some waterfall or something and got us lost." Éclair replied, crossing her arms.

"Gaul, what was the name of your toy rabbit you had as a child?" Millhiore asked Gaul a question.

"Me? A toy rabbit?" Gaul nervously asked. "I never had a toy rabbit. I had Vert though, so maybe if you mean…" Millhiore just looked at Gaul. "Usa-chan." Gaul muttered.

"What was that?" Millhiore asked with a laugh.

"Usa-chan. I had a toy rabbit I called Usa-chan when I was young. Happy?" he frowned.

"Better." Millhiore nodded as she turned to Shinku. "Now, Shinku, last time I saw you… what did I tell you?" she blushed as she squirmed in her seat.

"That you loved me." Shinku replied very casually.

"Oh, she did now, did she?" Éclair smirked. "Well, that's something _I_ didn't know."

"Neither did I. You lucky bastard." Gaul muttered.

"Alright alright, I believe you know." Millhiore said, rising from her desk. "And that doesn't leave this room. So, I'll suppose I will contact the others to let them know about your presence and see what we can do to help." She sighed. "And I'll need to find rooms…"

"Actually, we'll pass on the rooms. The cellar was very nice. We'll just need all our equipment down there, a mattress or two, and meals sent down. We'll do fine." Éclair suggested.

"I'm good with that." Gaul added.

"I'm not." Shinku protested. "Unlike you guys I'm not use to living in damp, dark cellars. Can't I just get special privilege or something?" he added. He wasn't about to sleep in a cellar, even if he had to fight for it.

"Shinku, you're staying with us. End of discussion." Éclair replied.

"And if I refuse?" Shinku asked?

"Do you like your other leg?" Éclair asked with a sinister grin. "Now, do us a favor and help with the crates, we're relocating, again."

* * *

"This is the last of them." Gaul huffed, placing the last wooden crate neatly in a corner. Even though Shinku's leg was injured, he was forced to work. According to Éclair, work heals the body. Something that Shinku knew as a fact was not true. "How's your leg holding up?"

"Better question is how my sanity is holding up." Shinku moaned, sitting next to a cool, damp wall. "Because you people are nuts."

"We're not nuts. We're just war weary."

"Sounds the same to me." Shinku shrugged with a groan.

"You don't know nothing about war then." Éclair added, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.

"Tell me something, why didn't you accept the hospitality Millhiore would likely give us?" Shinku asked.

"Cause we first need to figure out what to do before we actually meet anyone from the past." Éclair replied.

"Explain?"

"Well, you see, before we get all friendly and such… actually, we _can't _get all friendly and such. Cause if we do, we might screw up the mission because of emotions and crap. We get too attached to something, we overreact is said something is hurt or effected or anything. Take it from me. You do not want to have some sort of lingering attraction to anything. Trust me." Éclair took a puff of her cigarette and sighed. "Look, Shinku, you should know that what we are about to do isn't some fun adventure. Alright? We're putting a lot at stake."

"I think you already covered this." Shinku replied with a huff.

"Well, given my good nature…"

"Sure." Shinku rolled his eyes.

"Shut it." Éclair snapped. "Alright, since I have a nice heart, I'll allow either of you two go if you don't want to do this."

"You know my answer. I'm good with this." Gaul shrugged.

"Alright, you're in. What about you Shinku?" Éclair asked.

"Let's see. You practically kidnapped me and shot me. I am _really_ wanting to say no, but unfortunately I'm stuck here and I fear that if I say no you guys will shoot me." Shinku replied. "So, despite my better judgment, I'm going to have to stick with you two. Unless you of course can get me home somehow, then I will gladly leave."

"We don't have a time machine or anything. But if you want to wait, I'm sure Ricotta could come up with something. Or you could tag along with the other you, ya know." Éclair replied, taking another puff.

"Hey, Éclair, speaking of other Shinkus what about other us, like other Éclair and other me? If we met them would we like destroy the world or some shit like that?" Gaul asked Éclair, scratching his ears.

"I don't care." Éclair simply replied. "But don't try to have sex with every woman here, alright?"

"I'll try." Gaul shrugged. "But I at least get to sleep with…"

"No one. Gaul, we're not here to cater to your sex drive."

"Can't I just get Yuki?"

"No!" Éclair and Shinku said in unison. "Wait, Gaul, when did you become a, um…" Shinku tried to think of the word.

"Sex maniac? About a year after the invasion. My hormones just kicked into overdrive." Gaul answered the question.

"You forgot your womanizing ways. Seriously, give it boobs and you'll hit on it." Éclair added with a smoke-filled laugh.

"Hey now, I'm not _that _into sex. I just like women, you know. The feel of the…"

"Ok, Gaul, I get it. You like women and Éclair likes guns." Shinku sighed.

"Still a virgin, huh?" Gaul asked.

"That's not something I'm going to answer." Shinku replied.

"So a yes."

"I said I'm not going to answer that!" Shinku replied.

"Alright, let's stop talking about meaningless things and get back on track." Éclair stopped the two. "First and foremost, we need someone on the inside of the three kingdoms. Sure we have Millhiore, Leo, and Kuberu, but their rulers and we can't trust them."

"Millhiore seems very trustworthy." Shinku replied. "And I know Leo-sama and Kuberu-chan are also

"Doesn't matter, as their too young to be truly effective. How else did you think we wound up in this situation?" Éclair replied, finishing her cigarette. "Now, tomorrow I want Gaul to go to Galette, Shinku to stay here, and I'll go to Pastillage. We need to convince one person on the inside to help us. So, recommendations? Remember, these people need to know how to keep their mouths shut."

"I think Noir can keep her mouth shut." Gaul suggested. "Actually, scratch that, I'll see if I can try Vert. She's trustworthy. Actually, Jaune is trustworthy as well. I might just try to get Génoise as whole. How's that sound?" Gaul asked to the annoyed Éclair, who only crossed her arms with disgust.

"New plan. Shinku, you go with Gaul to Galette. Make sure he doesn't shoot up the place or father the next generation. I'll cover Pastillage and Biscotti myself. And remember, we need to remind these people to keep their traps shut. Speaking of, I need to go tell Millhiore that." Éclair scratched her chin for a second. "Galette and Pastillage are kinda far. Hmm. Alright, you two stock up on whatever you need and move out. I'll cover Biscotti. We'll then tackle Pastillage together. Sounds like a plan?"

"Sounds good to me." Gaul said. Shinku just nodded.

"Alright, so, I'll go talk to Millhiore about not telling people we're here and find someone on the inside while you two get your asses to Galette." Éclair said as she headed to the door.

"Right. Shinku, take your clothes off." Gaul ordered Shinku after Éclair left the room.

"Um, Gaul, I don't go that way." Shinku said.

"I don't mean it like that you idiot. You can't go waltzing around in that." He pointed to Shinku's red shirt and jeans.

"Oh." Shinku looked at his clothes. They were rather bright.

"Don't worry; I got an extra pair of clothes. Let's get you dressed and us ready!"

"You know I'm in my twenties, right. I can change myself." Shinku groaned.

* * *

"Alright so, now what." Shinku asked Gaul as the two stood outside of the castle grounds. Each man was dressed in black, with the addition of black tactical vests on their chests and holsters on their legs. Gaul's decided to that he and Shinku should carry the SCAR-Ls with Five-sevens as their side-arms. As for Gaul, he also had the WA2000 strapped to his back, with the scope of the rifle being the only optic the two had.

"Well, we head to Galette of course." Gaul replied.

"What about my leg? It still hurts you know." Shinku replied, rubbing his neck.

"Can you walk?"

"It hurts, but yes."

"They we walk. Least that way you can walk the pain off."

"I don't think that's how you fix a bullet hole." Shinku sighed, rubbing his leg.

"Works for me." Gaul said with a smirk.

"You scare me, you know that?"

"We scare everyone." Gaul said as he began to walk along an unseen path, Shinku hobbling behind loaded down by extra weight of gear and guns. It was going to be a long walk.

* * *

**(A/N: That's chapter 4. Enjoy).**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Acting Out

"Are we there yet?" Shinku asked in the dark, following Gaul as he walked an unseen path. "Cause it seems to me that we're walking in circles!"

"You just love to complain, don't ya?" Gaul replied with a sigh. "We're not lost."

"Really? I swear we passed this tree already." Shinku pointed to a thin tree with forked branches.

"Shinku, it's a tree. They all look alike, ok? We are not lost, ok?" Gaul replied with a tone that made Shinku wonder if he was being honest or not.

"If I recall, wasn't the road to Galette a straight path lined with trees? This isn't a straight path, it's more of a curved one… and aren't we in a forest?" Shinku referred to the mass of trees the two had wandered into.

"This is a back road. We can't go down the regular path, least we raise a few eyes." Gaul replied as his ears twitched. "Stop." He said as he threw a hand in front of Shinku. "I hear someone coming."

"You do? Cause I can't hear anything." Shinku replied with a sign, looking at the grey cat ears that sat upon Gaul's head. Shinku knew, or was at least told, that animals had enhanced hearings and he wondered if this applied to Gaul and Éclair. They both had animal parts, so wouldn't it make sense if they had some of the same senses as animals? The idea of Éclair acting like a bloodhound with her noise in the dirt made Shinku smile as the thought popped into his head, though it was quickly popped as he was dragged into a small hollow of roots and dirt by Gaul. "Gaul?" Shinku said with annoyance, only to be hushed by Gaul.

"Shhh. Here he comes!" Gaul pointed out of the hiding spot and to a figure clad in green and with a head of flowing blonde hair. While Shinku couldn't make out the figure, Gaul seemed to know who it was right away. Vert Far Breton, the rabbit-like member of Génoise. And by the looks of it, she was as lost as Shinku had guessed he and Gaul were lost.

"Jaune, Noir!" Vert called out while trembling. "Where are you? This isn't funny anymore!" she cried out. Unknown to Shinku or Gaul, Vert was the proposed victim of a prank designed by Jaune and Noir. It required her to get lost in the woods, get caught in a daze of confusion, and then for Jaune to drop a fake giant spider on the poor girls head. However, Jaune and Noir had to been called back to the castle for some "official petting" by the newcomer Nanami, so the two figured leaving Vert alone in the woods would work just as well as the spider, if not slightly more cruel. And by luck, she had stumbled right into Shinku and Gaul who were looking for her in a sense. If fate was shining on the trio already, Operation Retaliation was bound to go smoothly.

"Say, isn't that one of the girls who protected you?" Shinku whispered to Gaul, who nodded.

"Yeah, that's Vert. Remember?" Gaul whispered back.

"I only remember Noir." Shinku replied. "She was nice." He added as Gaul gave him a funny look.

"Whatever. I'll go get Vert. Cover me and fire if anything goes wrong." Gaul pointed to the SCAR-L in Shinku's hand, leaving his own SCAR and WA2000 with Shinku. "I'll be right back." He whispered, slowly crawling out of cover and carefully getting to his feet. Vert was still unaware of his and Shinku's presence, and unfortunately had her back turned to Gaul.

"It's getting cold." She muttered, wrapping her arms around herself as she stood alone. "I need to find shelter, or else I might end up as a frozen bunny." She sighed, cursing herself for falling for such and obvious prank. And while she did all of this, Gaul had quietly moved behind her. In a lightning-fast motion, he grabbed one of Vert's arm and held it to her back while his other hand was clamped firmly around her mouth. In confusion and terror, Vert let out a muffled scream and wailed her free arm, trying to break free of whatever was grabbing her. Before she could let out another scream, Gaul had firmly pinned her to the ground. Placing a knee on her stomach and holding both her arms down, he looked firmly at her. Vert didn't feel the same as her mind rushed to one conclusion and her legs crossed in response. "P-Please don't…" she said in a meek voice. "I-I'll gladly pay you whatever you want… j-just don't…" but to her surprise, her attacker gripped her hand and helped her to her feet. "H-Huh?" was all Vert could manage as Gaul helped her to her feet.

"Don't you recognize me? It's me, Gaul!" Gaul tried to say in a rather heroic voice.

"Y-You can't be Gaul-Sama. He's still a boy and you're a man." She jumped as her mind reasoned she was falling for a trap. "H-How dare you try to ruin Gaul-Sama's good name and try to seduce me by pretending to be him! I, Vert Far Breton of the noble Breton family and member of the elite Génoise will not let your lewd actions go unpunished!" she pointed at Gaul with accusing eyes. Watching from hiding, Shinku chuckled. He though Gaul and Éclair were prone to overreacting. Somehow, Vert heard this and pointed at the hollow. "Neither will your friend go unpunished either!" she stood tall and firm and tense. It was then that Gaul noticed something about Vert he apparently missed when he was younger. She was quite well endowed in her chest.

"So, you think I'm "lewd", do you?" Gaul smirked while stealing another quick view of Vert's bust. Vert, while still standing strong began to tense. "And you also think I am a liar, correct?"

"C-Correct." Vert replied. She was, at the moment, weaponless which did worry her though she hoped her reputation will save her at this point.

"Heh. Look at the small rabbit standing up to the big lion. You know what happens now, right?" Gaul began to approach Vert. "The big lion eats the rabbit." And with that, Gaul tackled Vert again before she could react, pinning her to the ground as he did before but with a more sinister look. "Kick and scream all you want, but no one is here to save you." Gaul chuckled as he drew a combat knife that was hidden away, pointing it at Vert. She tensed up as she looked at the blade. "So, tell me, what should I do to you first? And the answer is not "let you go", heh." He laughed again as he flipped the knife downward.

"What are you going to do to me?" Vert asked, now scared. This strange man went from kind to hostile in a matter of seconds. She had no clue what he would do next.

"Well don't you know? All cats play with their food before killing it." Gaul smiled, keeping a firm knee on Vert, his free hand stroking her cheek before running down to her left breast, which he squeezed. Vert moaned and groaned at this, causing Gaul to laugh as his hand began to run towards her legs. "Know what I'm going to do now?" he whispered into her bunny ear.

"N-No…" she huffed.

"I'm going to show you this." And with that Gaul lowered his shirt collar, showing a necklace with a symbol. It was the royal symbol of Galette, something that Gaul had been wearing even after the fall of the kingdom. Vert's eyes widened upon seeing this medallion, well aware that only a member of the royal family could own such a medal. This meant that this Gaul was truly prince Gaul Galette Des Rois of Galette.

"G-Gaul-Sama…" was all Vert could say as Gaul wrapped his arms around her and held her. In truth, he was excited to have met her again. If only Noir and Jaune were here. While Gaul was happy, Vert was far from it a generally confused. How could Gaul have grown up so fast? And why was he wearing funny clothing? And why was another man kicking him?

"Come on Gaul, get off her." Shinku moaned, crossing his arms and looking down at the two while lightly tapping Gaul's side with his foot. "Come on, I promised Éclair you wouldn't do anything perverted. Come on. Move." He kept at the tapping while Gaul squeezed Vert harder.

"Just a bit more. He tried to reason with Shinku. Just a bit more." He said while holding Vert.

"G-Gaul-Sama… could you please let go?" Vert ask, Gaul releasing her as requested. The girl scrambled to her feet with a red face full of confusion. "Gaul-Sama…"

"Just call me Gaul."

"Gaul… what is going on?" she asked, lowering her head.

"Well, that's a long story." Gaul said. "So I'll sum it up. Shinku, go start up a fire while I start."

"Sure, your royal pain-in-the-ass." Shinku muttered.

* * *

"So that's the story?" Vert asked, now sitting cozily next to the fire.

"That's it." Gaul nodded, sitting beside her. Shinku sat on the other side of the fire with a frown. It was obvious that Gaul planned to not only make Vert their contact in Galette but also to make her his next conquest. It seemed obvious to Shinku, anyways, and it annoyed him. Vert seemed like a sweet girl and Shinku hated that Gaul was trying to get into her skirt. Or, was he? Maybe Gaul was actually trying to start a meaningful relationship.

"So, bad things are going to happen and you, Éclair, and Shinku are trying to stop those things from happening to our world?" Vert asked, keeping her knees to her chest.

"Yup." Shinku replied. "And it would help if…"

"I want to help to, then!" Vert proclaimed with a clutched fist. Nothing is more important to me then Galette and the royal family, and I don't want bad things happening to either! So I'll help." Gaul laughed at Vert's proclamation.

"Vert, while I'm thankful you want to help, this is something you can't…"

"No! I want to help Gaul-Sama."

"Well, what about Jauen and Noir? If you come with us, they're going to miss you." Gaul replied.

_"Not to mention that they'll blow our cover."_ Gaul thought to himself.

"That's not an issue! As a member of the noble Breton family, I can easily find a way to follow Gaul-Sama." Vert said with fire in her eyes. Gaul and Shinku eyed each other and Gaul smirked. He had an idea.

"Vert, mind waiting here for a moment while I speak with Shinku?" he kindly asked.

"Sure, Gaul-Sama." Very smiled.

"Just call me Gaul." Gaul moaned, getting to his feet and dragging Shinku to the side.

"Gaul, don't." Shinku said quickly as soon as the two were away from Vert.

"Don't what? I think she can help us." Gaul smirked. "As well as act like a contact. It'll be perfect!"

"Except when she goes away. Remember that? She and Jaune went to some little village to stop a giant rabbit or something?" Shinku replied.

"Remember that it was really your cousin, my sister, and Millhore that took out that rabbit." Gaul replied. "Speaking of, I wish I could see my sister again." He sighed. "Anyhow, I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Really, I don't think it will be fine at all. I don't know if Vert could handle what we're going to do." Shinku replied.

"Well, we picked you up and we're not sure you can handle what we're going to do."

"You kidnapped me, remember that? I never asked for this. Besides, you want her around so you can get in her pants."

"Not true!" Gaul nearly yelled. "I want her around because I know she can help us."

"Really." Shinku smirked. "Tell me, how she can help us?" he grinned as he asked.

"She uses a bow, so she knows how to use long-range and projectile weapons. Her hearing is keen, and she is a threat to be reasoned with at close-range combat." Gaul replied.

"She seems clumsy and forgetful." Shinku retorted.

"Well, she is. At times. But if she puts her mind to it, she'll do her best… wait, why are you asking me all of this? Shouldn't you be convincing me to let her join? I'm leading you here!"

"I'm the sanest one here." Shinku replied. "And all you want to do is get into her pants."

"Well, sorta. But that's…"

"So you admit you want to have sex with her?"

"And so what if I do? She's an attractive, eligible young lady and I have wanted to have a meaningful relationship for a long time. I'm tired of just random sex. I want to be with someone who I will know and see every day." Gaul moaned with a hint of loneliness.

"Why not Éclair?" Shinku asked. "You've been with her for a while, haven't you?"

"She's more into you then me." Gaul replied. "Opps, did I let that slip?"

"What?" Shinku had to ask.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you didn't notice? She's totally into you!"

"If "into me" you mean "shoot me in my goddamn leg" then yes, yes she is." Shinku remarked. Éclair appeared to be even less friendly then she was as a teenager, and if her sign of affection was shooting her loved one, Shinku didn't want any part of that. "Besides, didn't you tell me to _not _try anything with her?"

"Well, I did." Gaul crossed his arms. "But it's clear to me that she still has feelings for you. I can clearly see a change in her. She seems… happier."

"If her being happy means she starts shooting, I would hate to see her sad." Shinku replied.

"Trust me. You don't want to see her sad. She gets all suicidal and depressing." Gaul added.

"Well, given the amount of shit she had gone through, I would expect her to be that way if upset. Hell, I'm surprised you're not that way."

"People react differently to different situations." Gaul explained.

"You keep telling yourself that." Shinku rolled his eyes in response. "But, back on track, no."

"No what?"

"You can't bring Vert with you. That's final."

"You're not the boss of me!" Gaul shouted while pointing a finger at Shinku. "I can do what I want and how I want. And if Éclair or you get mad about it, too bad."

"Ok, now you're acting like a kid." Shinku glared at Gaul.

"Oh please, "Mr. Tough guy". Did you go through nine years of shit? Did you have to murder? Did you have to watch as everyone you ever knew or loved get executed before your eyes? Did you have to spend weeks and months on live in a tent and eating twigs and insects?" Gaul looked like he might have been on the verge of tears or anger. Shinku couldn't tell.

"You're right, I'm sorry." Shinku relented. Gaul, while seemingly insane to Shinku at this point, was right. He knew better than Shinku on this matter, though Shinku felt he was right on the Vert part. "But, on one condition. I don't want to see you leave Vert, alright? You start something with her, you stick with it. Got it?"

"Got it." Gaul nodded with renewed vigor. "I'll go let her know right away!" and before Shinku could speak, Gaul was already dashing to Vert. Shinku shook his headed and followed Gaul to the makeshift camp.

"Really, Gaul-Sama? You want my help!" Vert lit up as Gaul relayed the talk he and Shinku had to her, though edited.

"Yes." Gaul said with a sweet voice, taking her hands in his. "We would like you to help us." He gave a smile that many women swooned over.

_"She's taking this very well or is very gullible." _Shinku thought as he watched the display. Given the sparkle in her eyes, it would appear she was very gullible and innocent. Something Gaul planned to ruin. The bastard, Shinku thought.

"However." Gaul began, as Shinku rolled his eyes, "I actually need to go to Galette and will need you to accompany myself and Shinku, as to not raise that much suspicion, you see." Gaul explained. Vert tilted her head while Shinku looked at Gaul with confusion.

"Well, I can Gaul-Sama… but why?" Vert asked with the same confusion Shinku had.

"You see, we _originally_ planned to have a contact in Galette, a secret contact if you will to keep tabs on what is happening. I wanted to have you originally, but seeing as you wish to assist us, we'll need someone else. And I know just who!" Gaul said with a smug on his face. "And we can catch him in time if we hurry."

"Him?" Shinku asked.

* * *

"Alright, Vert, explain again what you are doing?" Gaul asked the blonde, sitting on his bed and tapping his foot. Unlike the Gaul Vert just talked with, this Gaul was young. And, well, rather impolite if Vert had anything to say about it. This was the Gaul of this time, not the future Gaul.

"I'm sorry, Gaul-Sama, but I really need you to do this for me." Vert held her hands together in a praying motion. "I was called away by the village of Biscitious because they reported to have monsters around." She explained while Gaul looked at the official document in his hands. It did have the stamp of the village leader and everything, though he was quite unaware that it was forged, rather quickly, by his older counterpart.

"Ok. And you want me to keep in touch with you because?" the young Gaul looked at her with slanted eyes.

"Because I want to know how the games go. I'm going to have to miss them, you know." She let out a loud sigh. Gaul did the same before lightly whacking her on the head. She made a small cry in response.

"Fine, but you know this leaves only Juane. Noir is going with Shinku, Éclair, and that busty ninja for training soon. So, you owe me." Gaul waved a finger at her.

"Understood, Gaul-Sama!" Vert nodded enthusiastically as another person walked into the room. A rather tall girl with long hair and a remarkable bust. Gaul's older sister, and current ruler of Galette, Leomitchelli Galette Des Rois, or Leo for short. "Ah! Leo-Sama!" Vert said in a rather surprised tone.

"Hey sis, what's up?" the younger Gaul asked.

"How many times have I told you to address me by the official title?" Leo rolled her eyes at Gaul before looking at the document in his hands. "What's this?"

"Oh some plea from our people about a monster. Apparently they want Vert to go help them." Gaul explained while Leo grinned.

"Oh really?" she smirked, taking the document from Gaul and looking at it. By first glance, it looked real. Leo frowned at it. "It's a fake. This is Gaul's handwriting!" She turned to Vert. "Care to explain this?" she waved the document to the trembling Vert and Gaul. While Gaul only shrugged, Vert was on the verge of tears. She had never had to lie to the royal family before, and looking at it she didn't understand why she was so eager to. Maybe it was the chance for adventure, or maybe it was the fact the older Gaul was very charming and handsome.

"Well… you see…" Vert held her hands together and looked around. Where was the older Gaul when she needed him?

"Hey, Vert, how'd it go!" the older Gaul exclaimed as he barged into the room, Shinku apparently having been tugging on his arm to not barge into the room. All three turned their eyes to Gaul, noticing the SCAR-L he had thrown over his shoulder like he would a sword. "Oh? Am I interrupting?" he lowered the rifle with one hand, his index finger hovering over the trigger. One thing that the three did not notice was the safety was off and the selector switch was turned to "A", full auto. A fully loaded thirty-round magazine was also firmly locked into place in the magazine well, but given Vert, Leo, and younger-Gaul have never seen an assault rifle they would have not guessed its deadly potential.

"Who are you?" Leo asked with a cock of her head. "And did you have anything to do with this?" she held the document to Gaul.

"Gaul, please don't" Shinku moaned, though Gaul wouldn't listen.

"Shinku, please shut up and hold my scar." Gaul handed him his SCAR, meaning Shinku now carried all three rifles, his SCAR and the WA2000 included. "I will handle this!"

"And get us killed." Shinku muttered.

"I am Gaul Galette Des Rois of Galette." Gaul exclaimed, holding out the royal medallion. "And this is Shinku Izumi!" Gaul dramatically pointed to Shinku, who just looked at him with a blank and annoyed face.

"Quit bringing me into your battles." Shinku moaned.

"And yes we are the ones responsible for this note! For we need Vert to help us in our grand plan of justice!" The older Gaul clutched his fist in dramatic fashion.

"Please quit using "we" and "our"." Shinku added.

"So what do you say? Will you allow Vert to join us?"

"Absolutely not!" Leo exclaimed. "Why would I let her go out with some crazy idiots who not only barged into my palace and my brother's room, but also tried to subdue and brainwash Vert? I should kick your ass right here, right now."

"Very well." The older Gaul suddenly took a fighting stance. "Have at me!" and Leo charged at Gaul, who sidestepped and in one swift move kicked Leo to the ground and implanted a foot right between her breasts. Leo let out a gasp of pain and surprisingly pleasure. Gaul then pulled out his Glock, and leaned into his sister's face, rubbing the barrel of it in her cheek. "Know what this is, hmm? This is a gun. Now, I don't really want to shoot my own sister, but I'm crazy enough to do it, alright?" Leo squirmed and with a swift wiggle, she punched the older Gaul in the face, knocking him back and causing him to drop his gun. In a quick succession, Leo grabbed the Glock and pointed at the older Gaul. Without hesitation, or knowledge about guns, she pulled the trigger. It clicked. She pulled the trigger again, and again, nothing happened. Gaul smirked. "I told you I didn't want to shoot my own sister."

All the while, the younger Gaul and Vert were watching this, not actually sure what they should do. Shinku, however, just stood idly by and yawned. Unknown to Vert, Gaul actually planned this scenario was going to happen. Knowing fully well that Leo or the younger Gaul weren't going to fall for a forged note, and along the lines of not believing that the royal symbol he wore was real, he would have to prove himself in the old-fashion Rois form, fighting. It was pretty smart, Shinku had to admit; though he was still questioning the sanity that older Gaul was experiencing.

"Come on! Admit I am the real Gaul." The older Gaul exclaimed as he and Leo rolled on the floor.

"Not in your lifetime, freak!" Leo growled, grabbing him by his collar and tried to toss him out of the window. Gaul responded by gripping her forearms and then kicking her in the shin. She grunted and fell to her knees, allowing Shinku to get out of her grasp. However, Leo gripped his ankle and pulled him to her, punching him directly in the groan. Gaul held in a muffled scream as he kicked the back of her knee, got to his feet, and then slammed her face into his knee. Spitting out a small amount of blood, Leo had to smirk. "You fight like Gaul, I'll give you that. If you weren't some creep, I'd say you're pretty cute."

"And if you weren't my sister, I'd totally try to hit on you." Gaul replied as Leo tried to punch him, Gaul barely missing the blow. He grabbed her arm and then flipped her onto a nearby table, cracking it and breaking a leg, but not destroying the entire thing like seen in movies.

"They're really hurting each other." Vert stated the obvious, standing adjacent to Shinku. The younger Gaul was doing the same as he was now amused by the fight.

"No, this is Gaul we're talking about. I saw him get shot and he barely flinched." Shinku replied.

"Well, I am… hey, what's that supposed to mean? That person is me?" the younger Gaul looked at Shinku with slanted eyes.

"Yup. That's what you grow up into. A psychotic-womanizing-rebel." Shinku replied.

"That doesn't sound too bad."

"Please don't." Shinku moaned, watching as Leo tossed the older Gaul onto the youngers bed. "So, listen, I am sorry about this."

"You know we're going to punish you after this fight is over, right?" Shinku didn't reply to that, watching Leo pin the older Gaul on the bed and grab his chin.

"Don't make me hurt this cute face of yours. Give up." Leo grinned.

"I'll give up if you and I get on it." The older Gaul smirked. "You know, we're on a bed." And with that, he kissed Leo and began to move his hands to her butt. Leo didn't seem to mind, and grabbed Gaul's face, kissing him deeper. Watching this, Shinku couldn't decide if he was sickened, annoyed, or jealous that Gaul somehow won over his sister.

"H-He's making out with my sister!" the young Gaul exclaimed.

"G-Gaul-Sama is quite bold." Vert tried to find something to say.

"This is disturbing." Shinku muttered as the older Gaul lightly pushed Leo off of him.

"Hey, guys, privacy?" the older Gaul asked.

"Privacy? Don't do anything in my room!" the younger Gaul exclaimed.

* * *

"You had to say that, you just had to say that." Shinku sighed, holding the three guns and standing outside of Leo's room, the younger Gaul and Vert with him. "You could have just said "stop that" or even "that's my sister". But, no, you just had to say "anything in my room"."

"Oh shut up!" Gaul snapped at Shinku as the older Gaul suddenly exited the room.

"That ended quite well." He said as he plucked his SCAR out of Shinku's hand. "Come on Vert, Shinku, let's get a move on!" though Vert and Shinku just stared at the older Gaul while the younger headed into his sisters room, finding her in her fully clothed, laying on the bed with a look of statement.

"I-I-I-I nearly did it with my younger brother." She laughed. "H-He looks so old." She muttered.

"Gaul, what did you?" Shinku asked, looking in the room himself.

"Oh, yeah, I convinced her that I am her brother and that if she wants me to not mention to anyone that she had "sex" with her brother, Vert, and the Earth-born hero she should let Vert come with us." Gaul replied. "Well, course we didn't _do _anything, but that's something that no one had to know."

"You blackmailed her?" Shinku asked simply.

"Yes. Yes I did."

"You have no shame, do you?" Shinku asked, passing the WA2000 to Gaul.

"Nope!" Gaul smiled. "I learned that blackmail works when you need it to." He began to walk away before Shinku spoke.

"Hold up! Hold up! You nearly had sex with your, what, eighteen-year old sister?"

"She's sixteen." Gaul replied.

"Sixteen? Oh, fucking great mate. So, to recap what _you _did in the past three hours, you scared and confused poor Vert out of her mind and ruined her reputation, barged into your past self, made out with your underage sister and nearly had sex with her." Shinku peeked into the room. "And Lord knows what you _actually_ did. And then you blackmail her… Ok, what the hell is wrong with you? When I met you, you seemed fine and _SANE_. Now, you…" he waved a finger at Gaul. "You got a problem." Gaul rolled his eyes, looking at Vert and Shinku.

"And you think Éclair is any better? You ever heard of two rights make a wrong? Well, we're two wrongs that make a right. When we're together, we're fine. Separate, we do our own thing." Gaul explained. "I use my charm and Éclair sticks guns at peoples face."

"You pointed a gun at a lot of people in the past three hours." Shinku replied. "You're really scaring me now, man. Regardless of whatever the hell reason you give me, you're scaring me."

"Says Mr. Fine-life." Gaul crossed his hands, still holding his scar. "You got to go home and live out your life. I got to watch everyone I know _fucking die_. And then had to fight for nine, nine years. Not on-and-off fighting, but constant fighting. So, you expect me to be alright in the head? You expect me to magically be ok because you're here? No, it doesn't work like that. I did things I regret doing. I had experiences I wished I never went through. Constantly. Yet you get to live a happy-ass life."

"I get that." Shinku replied after a moment of silence. "But why chose me?"

"Why? Because we thought you'd jump at the chance to help save the world or some shit. You did it twice. Yet, now you're hesitant and whiny. Why is that? Is it because we're using guns? Because people can actually die? Or is because this is a bother to you?"

"You kidnapped me." Shinku reminded Gaul. "At no time was I able to say "no" and leave."

"You could have!" Gaul shouted. "But you didn't. You said you wanted to help. We trusted you, damnit! We thought you could help us!"

"And I want to!" Shinku shouted back. "But this… this isn't right."

"Then what is?" Gaul retorted. "Talking to them? Beating them with an iron rod? Enjoying some fucking tea and cake? Shinku, you don't get it. We're about to fight an enemy who does not care who we are. They will kill us, and everyone else if given the chance!" he pointed to Vert. "They'll kill her, the other me, Leo, everyone without batting an eye. Shinku, I've seen what they can do. They do not provide any mercy, nor remorse. And so long as we are here, they will hunt us down and kill whoever or whatever gets in their way."

"Gaul-Sama!" Vert blurted. "W-Why did you come then if they are going to do all this?"

"Because we are trying to save you and this entire damn world!" Gaul yelled at her. "Even if we didn't come they would have! We know they were planning it! And without us, they would have killed everyone." Gaul tensed up, and slowly raised his SCAR.

"Gaul, what are you doing?" Shinku asked hesitantly.

"I'm going to give you an option, Shinku. I'm not going to sugar coat this. Help us, or I will kill you." Shinku became pale at this.

"G-Gaul… you're kidding, right?"

"You want to know what I experienced, right? Well, here it is. The threat of death. Do or die." Gaul slowly approached the two, who backed up in response. Shinku noticed the door to Leo's room was closed, and for good reason. He also noted Vert hiding behind him and gulped, knowing this was for real. And without thinking, he slowly raised his own SCAR and aimed at Gaul, lining up the back post and front post on his chest.

"Gaul, don't make me do this." Shinku said in a low voice, his body straight and stiff, though he was trembling on the inside.

"So, you finally decide to act, huh?" Gaul asked, his own rifle trained on Shinku.

"Do not make me do this." Shinku replied again, his finger hovering over the trigger.

"Well then, you pass." Gaul chuckled.

"Pass? Pass what?" Shinku asked, as Vert suddenly collapsed to the ground. Before he could react, something hit his neck and he collapsed to the floor as well.

* * *

Waking up after what seemed like hours, Shinku's head felt fuzzy. Gripping it, he slowly sat up and tried to focus on his surroundings. It looked like he was in a cave or something, surrounded by boxes.

"W-Where am I?" Shinku muttered.

"Our hideout." He heard a female voice say. Turning around, he was greeted by Éclair, the older, squatting beside him. "How are you doing?"

"Hung over." Shinku replied.

"That's the neurotoxins at work. Sorry 'bout that." Éclair replied, waving what looked like a dart gun. "I also shot Millhiore, the younger Gaul, Leo, and a few others."

"W-What? Why?"

"So they'll forget us. The toxin comes from one of our native amphibian species, and targets the brain. They'll be fine, though, and likely remember everything that occurred in the last few hours as a bad dream. I had to shoot you with a dart so you wouldn't start shooting."

"I remember that." Shinku gripped his head. "Gaul was doing something."

"Testing you." Gaul said, leaning against a nearby wall, Vert soundly asleep next to him.

"T-Testing me?"

"Yes." Éclair replied with a chuckle. "Do you honestly believe we would do something along the lines of "make connections" with people or alert the ruling leaders of our presence? Or that we would blindly go running around, breaking into rooms and all? We're not stupid, Shinku. Crazy, but not stupid."

"I-I don't understand…" Shinku gripped his head.

"We were acting to an extent." Gaul replied. "Sure I am a womanizer… and I nearly slept with my sister, but I don't go running around doing what you saw me do. I sneak around and take things out at long range. Éclair there… well, you'll find out sooner or later."

"So, wait." Shinku shook his head. "You two were acting? Mind me asking, but acting when?"

"When we said we shot each other to solve arguments, just about everything I did, Éclair being a brute." She frowned at Gaul for saying that. "That. However, the story I told you, that's real. Our enemy is real. These guns are real. I'll say this simply. You see, Shinku, we needed to make sure you were trustworthy and knew what was right and wrong. And while you disagreed with our acting, you followed through on everything. So we can trust you. You'll need some work on your aim, and your ability to turn your safety off, but you'll do." Gaul smiled.

"Sorry we had to put you through this, but we had to be sure you wouldn't snap." Éclair added. "What our acting showed you is the hell of war, and what our foes might act like. The fact you were able to stomach it, and at least come away with it knowing good and bad, means you got potential. And besides, do you think we would pull you off the streets for no reason other than the fact we know you?" Éclair asked.

"You still kidnapped me." Shinku reminded her.

"You'll need to drop that." She replied, helping Shinku to his feet.

"You also shot me in my goddamn leg, which I suppose you did on purpose?"

"I did."

"Whatever. So, where are we?" Shinku asked, looking at the cave.

"An underground cave. While Gaul was testing you I took the time to move all our stuff here, and fix up the Princesses office in order to make it appear we were never there."

"And while you and Vert were out, we cleaned up the castle. Again, we can't let people know we're here." Gaul added.

"Leo and Millhiore are too untrustworthy." Éclair explained. "Vert, not so much."

"So, to be clear, you guys not only moved everything here, but also made sure everyone but Vert forgot we met them?" Shinku asked.

"Yup." Éclair nodded. "Again, not stupid."

"I see. Next time could you guys tell me when you are acting or not?" Shinku groaned.

"But that would take all the fun out of it." Gaul chuckled, lightly rubbing Vert's head. She smiled. "We also needed to test her out as well. She'll need training, but she'll do."

"Why'd you pick her?" Shinku asked.

"She uses long-range weapons. And we already decided on who we need to contact more then you to help us. She is one of them." Gaul replied as Vert began to open her eyes and yawn.

"Gaul-Sama… I had a strange drea…" she stopped as she looked around, quite confused about where she was. "Gaul-Sama?"

"It's alright Vert." he patted her head. "You're fine. You just had a bad dream." He lied.

"I was being truthful about you making sure he didn't screw around." Éclair whispered to Shinku. "And that thing was his sister… we didn't plan on that."

"That's creepy." Shinku whispered back. "But, where are we? Location wise, I mean."

"A secret." She waved a finger at Shinku. "You'll find out soon enough. But, for now, we need to train you and Vert. Oh, and before I forget, you're on toilet duty."

* * *

**(A/N: And with a twist, Eclair and Gaul aren't insane, just crazy! Yeah, strange, but honestly how else would you expect the two to survive nine years if they were actually as crazy as they pretended to be? Gaul alone would have been shot dead if he did the door-busting scene. So, yeah, sorry bout this chapter then. Hope you enjoy. Please?)**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Days Go By

And so, a week passed by, the longest week Shinku had ever experienced if he did say-so himself. "Toilet" duty was rather unpleasant, given that the "toilet" was a shared bucket. It disturbed Shinku so much he became constipated for three days just thinking about having to use that filthy thing. But, finally, his body relented and he started to use it. Though toilet paper was still not an option, given it was a "luxury". Something Shinku would have never thought to hear in the same sentence, "luxury" and "toilet paper". In fact, apparently everything Shinku used on a daily basis was a "luxury" to Éclair and Gaul. Electricity was only used if a gun required it, but aside from that candles and fires were the norm, and coldness was an ally. Blankets were also rare, as Éclair explained that their bulky and takes up space, same goes with pillows. Extra sets of clothes were rare; hot water was rare, even good food was rare. What counted as "food" to them was a strange gruel made out of a starchy root, some leaves that were full of nutrition, according to Gaul, and insects. A very disturbing mix that apparently fed the two for years. Both Vert and Shinku still have a problem making it and or eating it.

As for Vert, who Shinku suggested was also "kidnaped", she was having an extremely hard time adopting to the life style of Gaul-Sama and Éclair-San, who didn't really enjoy the honorific titles. Having lived a noble life and then living a rather "plush" life after joining the Galette military, Vert was forced to live the life of a "poor person" in her own words. The soft beds were gone, replaced with light, flimsy sleeping bags. The baths were gone, the good food was gone, even her bow and clothes were gone. Her outfit with its green highlights and skirt was considered "too flashy" by Éclair, ironic due to Éclair's green hair, and replaced with black pants and a black shirt. A tactical vest was also to be given to her, when needed however. And her beloved bow was also taken away, and she was to use the "guns" when needed. To say the least, she was having a hard-time adjusting to this new life-style. She thought this would be like a "real" adventure, with treasure, and fighting monsters, and all the other stuff fairy tales promised. Not guns, hiding, and a bucket with gruel. Though one thing that both Vert and Shinku could agree on was the lack of sleep they got.

"Hey, you two, wake up!" Gaul screamed at the two who were still trying to catch some sleep in their sleeping bags. Gone were twelve-hours of sleep, replaced with six to eight hours, depending on Gaul and Éclair's mood.

"Gaul, please…" Shinku groaned.

"Gaul-Sama, I want to sleep some more…" Vert complained.

"I don't care. Today you have training." Gaul ordered. Éclair was gone at this point, doing something along the lines of finding "support". Both Vert and Shinku groaned.

"Gaul-Sama… I'm indecent…" Vert tried to explain to Gaul, mentioning the fact that she only wore her green panty and bra when she went to sleep. She was not allowed to go retrieve her things, so she literally had the clothes on her back, which were taken away and now only the underwear on her back.

"Don't care." Gaul replied. "I slept in the nude for six years. As did Éclair." He directed that at Shinku. It was becoming quite obvious that Shinku either had feelings for Éclair, or was developing them. Likewise, it was also obvious that Gaul was either growing on Vert, or lusting for her. No one could really tell. In short, love, gun smoke, and the smell of shit were in the air. "Well, come on. Get up. If you don't, you don't get to use the hot spring." And with that both Vert and Shinku sat up. Hot springs, aside from their hot water, were great for cleaning, which Vert and Shinku needed. As did Gaul and Éclair, but they wouldn't admit it.

"Gaul-Sama, we have a hot-spring?" Vert asked with perked ears.

"No. But I know where one is. And if you do your training, I'll take you there." Gaul crossed his arms. "But, there is a catch. When we come across hot water, we don't take the time to "separate". So, put it shortly, mixed bathing." Vert became red at this. Bathing was usually divided into male or female back in Galette, not mixed. "Complain and you don't get to use it. That's the deal."

"Fine." Shinku groaned. Vert just nodded her head nervously.

"Well now that's settled, grab you clothes, grab a holster, and grab a Glock. We'll meet outside. And Shinku, please show Vert what a holster and Glock is, if you please." Gaul asked Shinku, who responded by rubbing his bedhead hair.

"Fine." Shinku mumbled as Gaul left the two.

"Shinku-San, can I tell you something?" Vert asked with a nervous voice.

"Sure." Shinku yawned, taking a glance of Vert's cleavage. It was quite large, to say the least. Something he never noticed before.

"I'm a bit nervous about this. The training and all." Vert shared. "It's not at all what I imagined it to be, and while I do want to leave, I don't want to abandon Gaul-Sama."

"Didn't you already abandon him when you joined us?" Shinku asked indifferently.

"W-Well…" Vert muttered. Shinku was right, in the aspect that Vert had abandoned the younger Gaul for the older, Génoise included. What would Noir or Juane say if they found out? And why weren't they looking for her, for that matter? She had been gone for over a week now, so would that mean that nobody cared for absence? Scratching his bare chest, Shinku noticed that Vert was looking upset.

"Sorry, did I…"

"No, you didn't do anything." Vert slipped out of her sleeping bag and curled her feet close to her chest. "I should just accept the fact that I'm just a useless little bunny, only good for my sex appeal."

"Well, you certainly don't have to belittle yourself that way." Shinku replied, slipping out of his sleeping bag, clad only in his boxers and t-shirt.

"No, no. It makes perfect sense. No one has come looking for me, so they obviously don't miss me." Vert replied.

"I'm _sure _there is a reason behind that." Shinku lied. Hell, he was surprised himself that no one noticed that _he _was missing.

"They just don't care." Vert said saddened, leaving Shinku a tad confused on what to say. While he would have liked to comfort her, he really didn't know her all too well. Back in his youth, he never really regarded Vert or Juane though he knew about Noir and was friends with her. But the other two, not so much. What made Vert stand out to Shinku was her rabbit features and her large bust, though given the amount of bust many women had Vert really didn't stand out in the crowd. And yet, it would appear that Vert knew quite a lot about Shinku. Maybe it was because of all the stories told about him.

"I'm sure they do." Shinku patted her head, trying to cheer her up.

"Well, at least Gaul-Sama cares for me." Vert grinned.

"Vert, I'm not sure he is the best influence. He's a womanizer if you hadn't noticed."

"I know. But I love Gaul-Sama, and I want to do whatever it is to help. And the younger Gaul-Sama never seems to care about me much, but the older Gaul-Sama cares." Vert defended Gaul. Shinku had to admit Vert was very passionate in her defense of Gaul, though. It was like he was a hero in her eyes. And maybe he was to her. Or maybe she was just gullible or even lonely and needed someone. It was clear that Gaul enjoyed her company, regardless if he actually had any sinister plans or not.

"Ah." Shinku replied, not actually sure how he needed to respond to Vert. "Well, if you feel that way."

"I do!"

"Right. If you feel that way, let it be then." He replied, knowing fully well that he was in no situation to give romantic advice. Last girlfriend he had was a girl named Chisato Okumura, but that relationship fell through rather quickly. "Anyhow, I'm sure Gaul is waiting for us, so…"

"Ah! Yes! I almost forgot about Gaul-Sama!" Vert exclaimed.

"You really don't have to call him Gaul-Sama that much, ya know?" Shinku sighed.

* * *

"Vert! Where are you?" Jaune called out into the forest as she and Noir tried to search for their missing friend. It had been over a week since Vert suddenly vanished, leaving Jaune and Noir worried. Asking Gaul was no help, as his memory was apparently fuzzy about last seeing Vert. With Noir back from her training and Jaune back from her trip with Nanami, the two now had time to try to find the lost girl.

"Maybe she's dead." Noir replied with her usual dead-stare. "She's clumsy so she could have likely been eaten by a bear."

"I don't think she would do something as stupid as upset a bear." Jaune replied with a sigh, the image of a small Vert skipping through the woods and then suddenly getting devoured by a bear crossing her mind. "What likely happen was that she ran away." Jaune slammed her fist into the palm of her hand.

"Ran away?" Noir tilted her head. Jaune nodded.

"Likely, Gaul-Sama must have done something pretty edgy, which caused Vert to run away! Why else would Gaul-Sama say his memory was fuzzy?" Jaune explained to Noir, who instantly thought of a small Vert running away in tears from an evil-laughing Gaul.

"Something like sexual harassment?" Noir asked.

"Could be." Jaune nodded with a convinced look on her face. "We both know that Vert has the biggest boobs out of the three of us, so most likely Gaul-Sama would have tried something on her! Gaul-Sama, that pervert!"

"Why do you think it's Gaul-Sama?" Noir asked. "It could have been Nanami-San."

"No, she doesn't seem like the type." Jaune rubbed her chin.

"Leo-Sama? Maybe she wanted to up herself as the top of the breast food-chain and didn't want to share that title?" Noir suggested.

"Noir, where do you get these strange ideas?" Jaune sighed as she hunched her body over. "Noir?" Jaune turned around to see why her friend had not responded. Instead of Noir, she came face-to-face with the buttstock of an AK.

* * *

"Alright, today's lesson will be critical." Gaul explained to Vert and Shinku, both of who were dressed and armed with an unloaded Glock pistol. "It will be how to upholster your pistol." He pointed to the leg-holster that held said pistols. "Now, Shinku, when I say go, I want you to upholster your glock and aim it at me. Ready, go!" and Shinku upholstered his Glock and raised it at Gaul, who made sure that the pistols were unloaded. He did not want an accidental misfire. Though the whole idea of aiming your weapon at your instructor was a very unorthodox method, Gaul swore by it. "Five seconds. I could have killed you by now." Gaul waved a Five-Seven at Shinku before pointing it at Vert. "Now, Vert, go."

"Ah!" and Vert reached for her pistol gripping it by the slide and pulling out the firearm, which slipped out of her hand and landed onto the ground with a thud. "S-Sorry, Gaul-Sama."

"Sorry?" Gaul aimed his pistol at Vert's head and pulled the trigger, producing a "click" sound. "You would have been dead. Vert, and you to Shinku, understand that who we are fighting are not some random, dot-eyed people. These are people who want to _kill _you, not "knock you out" but kill you. And they don't mind killing you. So, to survive, you need to be quick." He picked up Vert's gun and handed it to her. "See how I'm holding my gun, hold it like so." Vert took her Glock and complied, gripping it by the grip and not the slide. "Good. Now, both of you, holster you weapons." Both Shinku and Vert slide their pistols into their holster. "Now take it out." They retrieved their guns as Gaul directed. "Now holster them. Now, take them out. Put them back in. Take them out." And this went on for three hours, Gaul ordering them to draw their pistols and then place them back into holster. After a while, their hands began to grow weary.

"Enough." Gaul directed, and if on instinct Vert and Shinku holstered their guns. "Now, do you know why I made you do that?" Both Shinku and Vert were silent. "Because drawing your pistol at the correct speed can mean the difference between life and death. If you are to slow at drawing you pistol, your enemy will put a bullet into your head before you can say "oops". Drawing it fast and smooth will let you take down your enemies without them not knowing what is going to happen. Now, let me ask you. What do you think pistols will be used for?"

"Hurting people?" Vert raised her hand.

"Close. The pistol is designed to take down, not kill. A pistol can kill, you should know, but don't use it as a killing weapon unless you have absolutely no other means. In our line of work, our rifles do the killing." Both Shinku and Vert became flustered. It just hit them that they would, at some time or another, have to kill. "Now, we will have drills like this for a while. Two hours every day."

"Will we target practice?" Shinku asked.

"No. Do you think we're made out of ammo? Until you can aim properly, you will not fire any rounds. We can't afford you two to waste ammo with missed shots. Now, time for assault rifle training!" Gaul exclaimed with glee, pointing to the two SIG SG 552s that were leaning against a rock. "Please pick one up." Vert and Shinku complied, grabbing the rifles. While Shinku had no issue holding the rifle, Vert clearly did as she grunted. How was she supposed to hold this? Holding it like the pistol made it quite heavy.

"Um, Vert, grab it like this." Shinku showed her the "proper" way, with one hand gripping the grip and the other gripping the handguard. The SIG SG 552s was somewhat shorter than the SCAR-L that Shinku was slowly getting, but he admitted he liked the smoother grip compared to the rails of the SCAR.

"O-Oh." Vert blushed as she held the rifle correctly.

"I'm waiting." Gaul demanded, his hands on his hips. Shinku and Vert quickly came to him, their rifles lowered. Unlike the Glock, a clear plastic magazine was inserted into the rifle though no bullets were in the magazines. "Alright, unlike the glock, we're going to actually aim. We'll aim with the glocks later. Anyhow, note the sights. The front is open and the back is somewhat closed. Go on, look." Vert and Shinku did as Gaul ordered, looking at the rather open front sight and the smaller back sight. "To aim, you look through the small hole in the back, aiming it up with the front sight. The back sight can be adjusted for wind and length. As a rule of thumb, the larger the opening in the back, the closer you want the target to be. Making the back sight smaller means you are aiming for a target farer away."

"What about holo sights, or red-dot?" Shinku asked.

"No." Gaul quickly replied. "You're not ready to use those sights, and we can't afford you breaking them."

"Sniper stuff?"

"No. I snipe. I'm the one trained in sniping." Gaul retorted. Shinku grumbled and Vert just stood there confused. "Now, where were we? Ah, yes. Aiming. When I say go, raise your rifle and aim down the sights. Lower it when I say "lower". Clear? Good. Now, aim."

* * *

With a thud, Jaune and Noir were tossed to the ground, their hands and legs bounded by ropes.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" Asked a rather sinister voice. Being surrounded by five people armed with AKs was bad enough, but this voice from the sixth person just seemed to top the cake of bad things happening to the two.

"Spies it would seem, sir." Replied a young man dressed in a tattered foliage military outfit and holding an AKM. "Their Galette, but the looks of it." He said as his brown dog tail wagged.

"Imperial spies? You think they know?" the big, sinister man asked. He was wearing heavy body armor and a helmet that obscured his face. In his hands was a HK121 light machine gun.

"Not sure, sir." The other replied. "We don't think they have any wires on 'em, though if you want us to check." He eyed Jaune, who shivered.

"No. That will not be needed." The man appearing to be in charge said. He then motioned for a rather lanky man with a Mohawk, who smiled and flipped a combat knife around, catching it by the grip.

"Hey, bitches, shut ya trap and listen up!" the man with the knife yelled at Jaune and Vert, who were actually silent. "The boss-man is gonna be nice to ya. So you'd better behave, or else I'll cut you." He waved the knife in Jaune's face.

"D-Do you know who you're talking to? I'm Jaune Clafoutis of the noble and brave Clafoutis Family and a member of Génoise!"

"Really now?" the man grinned. "Noble? You must be worth quite a pretty penny." He slyly bent over her and placed the knife under her chin. "So, you'd be worth much more, ah, undefiled then defiled. Tell me, what about your friend?" he pointed to the blank-face Noir.

"She's noble to, you scum, and if you think of touching either of us, Gaul-Sama will be here to save us!" Jaune protested.

"Gaul-Sama?" he cocked his head? "That dead-beat prince? Do you honestly think that he is going to come after you? No, he'll just replace you, like all his other toys."

"Why you." Jaune growled.

"Well, whatever." He shrugged. "Hey boss, turns out these girls are nobles." He pointed the knife at Jaune. And just as he did, a crackle sound rang out, and a mess of blood, brain matter, and skull fragments spewed out the left side of his head. He collapsed dead, his eyes wide open in shock. Another crackle, and another man dropped dead as a projectile tore his heart. As he dropped, another dropped, then another. By this time, understanding what was happening, the three surviving men began to panic.

* * *

"Hey, Shinku-san, where do you think Gaul-Sama went?" Vert ask, sitting on a rock and rubbing her sore shoulder. Aiming a rifle was harder then she thought.

"Not sure." Shinku replied before he took a drink of water from an old metal canteen. As he swallowed he pointed the canteen at Vert, who shook her head.

"I hope he's ok." Vert sighed. "He took that weird rifle with him."

"Probably just for protection." Shinku shrugged. "What else could he have it for?"

* * *

"And where are you running to?" Gaul smiled as he looked into the scope of his WA2000, its bipod deployed amongst a rock. As he lay on the ground, his hands were "crossed" with one holding the grip and trigger while the other supported. He held his cheek lightly on the butt stock, and at times used his supporting hand to change the position of the rifle. What he was doing was short-ranged sniping, a very risky task given he had no spotter and he was in range of the AKs; though it didn't worry him in the slightest.

"Got you." Gaul hovered his sights over a target and pulled the trigger. The bullet launched from the rifle, but a sudden gust of wind made the round slam into the shoulder of the target, not the chest. "Shit." He huffed as he adjusted his scope for the sudden gust, firing again and striking his target dead. The last "regular bad guy" suddenly began firing randomly with his AKM, wasting the full magazine in a few seconds. Gaul shot him in the leg, ejected the current magazine and inserted a new one, this time planning to take out the armored man. Looking in the scope, Gaul noted that the one shot was dragging himself to the girls. "Thought I keep you alive. Oh well." He shrugged, firing a round into the wounded man's head, splitting it open. Jaune let out a scream as everything became real to her. Noir was just her silent self. Suddenly, heavy gunshots rang out. The man in the armor was firing at Gaul, or at least where Gaul was. Gaul cursed, knowing that the ammunition the WA2000 had would be ineffective against heavy armor. The .300 Winchester Magnum, while a powerful round, was likely not going to pierce that armor from the range he was at. "Should have gone with the 7.62." he muttered, careful observing his enemy through his scope. From head-to-toe, he had plated armor and his HK121 had a one-hundred drum magazine by the looks of it. This made him, by appearance, slow and if his legs went out. So, moving his crosshair over the leg, he fired. Given that his opponent was turned at the moment, the bullet slammed into the side of his knee, ripping muscle and bone and dropped the man. With this window of opportunity, Gaul shot out his right arm by a bullet squarely in the elbow. Without a further delay, Gaul retracted the bipod, slung the rifle over his back and began to scale down the rocky hill, drawing his Five-Seven as he did so. While the Five-Seven's round was smaller than that of the WA2000, the 5.7 cartridge was more or less known for its kick and penetration. Reaching the small patch of land, he cocked the slide back on the pistol and approached the down man.

"Hey, buddy, you still alive?" Gaul asked, which was answered by a groan. "Alright, making sure so you can feel it when I kick you in the nuts." Gaul kneeled next to him and rubbed the barrel of the Five-Seven into the side of the head. "Now then. You're going to tell me everything I want to know. If not, I kill you. Understand?"

"What do you want to know?" the man asked with a gruff.

"Off the bat, who are you?"

"Mercenaries."

"Sucky ones at that. Question two, do you have any supply caches lying around, or what I see is what I get?"

"T-This is it." The man replied. "We were told it be an easy get-in get-out job."

"Which is?"

"To kill the princesses." The man said in angst.

"Ah, assassination attempt. You sucked at it. Now, tell me, who hired you?" Gaul asked, pointing that barrel at the man's head while he spoke.

"W-We don't know. It was some man at a bar."

"Can you describe him?" Gaul cocked his head.

"H-He wore a long thick black coat and had a mask on. That's all."

"Alright then. Well, you severed your purpose." And with that, Gaul got up, aimed the Five-Seven, and pulled the trigger five times, implanting five rounds into the man's neck and head. With a light kick to assume he was dead, Gaul placed the safety on and holstered his weapon. Six mercenaries down and likely more where they came from. But, Gaul could care less as he turned his attention to Jaune and Noir, who still in shock from having witnessing death for the first time.

"Day just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?" Gaul sighed as he approached the two.

* * *

"So, what brings you here today?" Loran Martinozzi asked aloud as he entered his private room. Sitting on a couch in his private room was Éclair Martinozzi, his younger sister; though unlike most meetings with his sister, this time she was taller. The older Éclair.

"Need to talk." Éclair replied. "You alone?"

"But of course." Loran shrugged, putting his cape on a nearby rack. A week ago, while Shinku and Gaul went through there strange adventures, Éclair went ahead to find an ally in her brother. "You're not going to shoot me, are you?"  
"We need you awake, and alive." Éclair replied, eyeing a nearby clock. It was already getting late.

"I would hope so." He replied with a laugh, heading to his private liquor cabinet. "I'm afraid to ask, but you drink, right?"  
"I do. What do you have?" Éclair stretched, her expanding stomach gently raising the P90 that was slung around her chest.

"Well, I got Miland wine vintage." He retrieved the light-colored bottle and showed it to her. She nodded her approval. "So, if I might ask, how are you doing? The Éclair I know is never this friendly, or open for that matter."

"I was a handful, wasn't I?" Éclair chuckled to herself.

"Somewhat." Loran smiled as he poured two glasses of wine. "Though, do tell me, why did you assault the princesses? I heard what happened in Galette and here."

"We have reasons… though the last part Gaul was being stupid." Éclair replied with a sigh. "He's quite the handful." Éclair frowned.

"I never envied Leo-sama for having Gaul as a younger brother. I was always quite content with you as my sister." He smiled as he handed a glass of wine to the slightly red-faced Éclair. "So, what is it you want to talk about?" he asked, sitting in a chair that faced the sofa.

"Operation Retaliation is moving faster than we expected." Éclair took a sip of the wine. It had a warm flavor with hints of cinnamon and orange. "I worry that if we move to fast, we could endanger Millhiore or the others."

"Oh?" was all that Loran could say. Éclair nodded.

"For now, I need you to keep an eye on everyone. I know it's a lot to ask, but we can't have them snooping. I already explained how Vert joined up, which is going to put a strain on our ammo reserves and our supplies. Not to mention we're going to get people looking for her."

"So that's what happened to her." Loran muttered as Éclair eyed him. "Oh, go on."

"Well, to put it simply, I brought this." Éclair withdrew a folded map from her back pocket and unfolded it. It was a rather hastily done map of Flonyard, which encompassed all three known kingdoms, cities and towns, and physical marks. "See, we're here." She pointed to a mountain range on the map that was between the three kingdoms. "And we need people to not go there."

"So, you want me to lie and or make up a story so people will not go to that spot, am I correct?" Loran asked as he swished the wine around in its glass.

"Yes. Could you do that?" Éclair replied, folding the map up.

"I can." Loran crossed his arms and nodded. "Though, since you know a lot about the future, anything I should worry about?"

"Well, you got the demon king." Éclair shrugged.

"The demon king?" Loran asked, tilting his head in slight confusion as he remembered the legend. "Ah, yes, I remember. But wasn't he sealed away?" Éclair downed her wine and looked at Loran squarely in the eye.

"Guess."

"Shinku?"

"Shinku." Éclair replied with a roll of her eyes. "Please don't try to stop him, but do note that the seal-area is near our base of operations… an oversight looking back on it. Anyhow, if you could try to keep people from going there, it would be a great help to our cause. Can I count on you?"

"On our family name you can rely on me." Loran bowed. Éclair smiled as she got to her feet.

"Well, I thank you, brother. I need to get back before Gaul does anything stupid." She began to head to the window she entered in.

"If there is anything you need, please do ask." Loran replied. Éclair looked at him for a moment and nodded.

* * *

"Alright, I'm back." Gaul said aloud as he approached Shinku and Vert. Under one arm were two puffballs. Under the other, a box of ammunition.

"Gaul-Sama! You're back!" Vert happily exclaimed, looking at the puffballs. "Gaul-Sama, are those…"

"Yup. Noir and Jaune. I figured you were lonely, so I went out and got them for you." He grinned. Shinku didn't and crossed his arms. "What? Don't believe me?" Shinku nodded, while Vert looked at the two. "Fine, I ran into some mercs who had them. Got a tad messy."

"Messy? Gaul-Sama did you…"

"Kill? Yes." Gaul replied. "Those are the rules Vert. I'm training you for that, remember?"

"Y-Yes, Gaul-Sama." Vert nodded nervously.

"You know Éclair is going to kill you for this." Shinku blankly told Gaul, who placed the puffball Noir and Jaune next to the box of ammunition and stretched.

"I know."

"And now that you collected 'em all, people are going to be looking for them."

"Yup."

"So, why are you so calm about this?"

"I'm known for doing stupid shit and then having the shit work out for me in the end. So it'll be fine! Trust me!" Gaul gave an unconvincing smile to Shinku, though Vert herself was quite convinced.

"Alright, well, I'll go dig your grave for you… wait, after Éclair finds out I'm certain that there will be nothing left of you to bury."

"A bit dark there, eh Shinku?" Gaul grinned.

"No, he's right." Gaul heard Éclair respond, as well as the cracking of her knuckles. He gulped.

* * *

"I cannot believe you did this Gaul. Of all the stupid shit you have done, this has gotta take the cake." Éclair chastised Gaul, Vert and Shinku watching from the side with Vert holding the puffball Jaune and Noir.

"Sorry."

"You couldn't have just let 'em be, could you?" Éclair placed her hands on her hips. "Well, no matter. I've got a plan. Still mad at you, but I got a plan."

"Which is?" Gaul asked, rubbing the bump on his head.

"Remember the demon king?"

"Yeah, what about him?" he asked.

"Well, we're going to be intervening a bit."

"Why don't I like the sound of this?" Shinku asked aloud.

* * *

**(A/N: And this is chapter 6 for you. Do note that being a border-line mercenaries does entitle you to not have to follow proper military training, or safety. Also, while I try to be as accurate as possible with realism of weapons, do note that some things will be changed for safety reasons. Please do enjoy.)**


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